


How to make a passenger manifest a found family

by TFALokiwriter



Category: Lost in Space (Cartoon 1973)
Genre: Cooking, Cooking Lessons, Cross-Generational Friendship, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Generation Gap, Group Hugs, Hugs, Post-Canon, Singing, This was supposed to be about Smith instructing Dina how to cook, but this took a life of its own, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23772316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: This is how the crew of the doomed flight to Saturn start to find a new way to live. These are ingredients on to make a found family.
Relationships: Craig Robinson & Link Robinson, Craig Robinson & Zachary Smith, Dina Carmichael & Craig Robinson, Dina Carmichael & Zachary Smith





	1. A shuttle

Artificial gravity echoed from deck to deck of the ship and the power pod was smoothly operating as the passengers of the Rocket looked out the window. There was a trash can full of packaging that had once held rations in the center of the cabin. Everyone was bored as they were waiting in their booths. It had been a complete week since they had returned into space from the strange planet that had things that no one had anticipated of ever seeing. Talking frogs, strange machines, flying hover machines, and diamonds that were thrown out of the older man's reach. 

"I have a announcement to make." Craig's voice drew the passengers attention.

"What is it, Craig?" Link asked.

"We are opening up the lower decks of the ship for residence." Craig announced.

"For residency?" Smith asked. "Living here until the end of my lifetime?"

"It's not forever, Doctor Smith." Craig said. "Just think of it as a extended vacation. If we fight to live and make friends then we may get there sooner rather than later."

"This fate of mine being given a long term sabbatical . . ." Smith mused over the thought then grinned. "I should be very healthy by the time I return to Earth University."

"Robon and I are focused on finding any space probes that were sent decades ago that may be in where we are and decided it would be best that you weren't cooped up on the bridge for the rest of the trip."

"Because this is not just a long term sabbatical." Smith whined. "If only we had emergency freezing tubes! If only!"

"Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 6 through 8, Ice, Genesis, Giotto are the space probes that departed the milky way galaxy in the year 2050 due to a unsettling solar storm that sent off course according to Pioneer twenty-seven." Robon rattled off the historical report and Smith sighed, annoyed. "If we come across any of the probes then we may use them as our way back to Earth."

"Tin plated purple clump of scrap and cybernetic encyclopedia, we know that!" Smith said, irritated.

"I don't know about you, Doctor Smith, Craig, Link, about staying up here. . ." Dina said. "but I like to check out the residential deck."

"This way." Craig beckoned them on.

Craig went to the lift along with Smith, Link, and Dina. He pressed a series of panels on the large button peeking out within the silver tube. The tube sent them down as they passed the boarding deck as the lights beamed on and off within the chamber. It was different and unusual going from one part of the ship to the next as they had only been needed to walk last time to the emergency exit that had quickly unrolled a platform and stairs.

The elevator came to a pause then the door slid open revealing the wide residential bay that had numerous doors. Link and Smith were the first to come out of the elevator then scan the residential deck taking note of how plain and straight forward it was. Smith seemed to be the most unhappy as Dina and Link were taking in the view. Dina counted at least nine rooms from the way that the rooms were sliced that accounted for two seating booths and the commander's seat.

"How tasteless and tacky." Smith commented.

Craig exited then came in the lead and paused in front of them, twirled around, his arms stretched out, and grinned.

"Welcome to bedroom central!" Craig said.

"There is no kitchen." Smith noted.

"The kitchen is one deck below as is the activity deck." Craig said. "The kitchen isn't high tech as Earth is right now so it will have to do."

"How high tech is it?" Smith asked as Dina looked toward the commander.

"It doesn't have a synthesizer or a replicator." Craig said.

"It can't replicate a meal or make a entirely one out of thin air?" Dina asked.

"Making the meal by hand for so little time is welcoming. I live that way back on Earth. Machines making the entire meal? Baaaah hum bugg!"

"I don't know how to cook!" Finally, Dina cracked.

"Neither do I." Craig admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That is deep trouble." Link said.

Smith stared at the younger members of the crew.

"Oh dear, we're doomed! Doomed!" Then Smith relaxed and recomposed over himself. "Thank the heavens I was part of this passenger crew manifest!"

The younger crewmembers looked toward Smith.

"You know how to use a oven?" Craig asked.

"Silverware, cooking tools, pans, pots, graters, rolling pins--- how about I teach you to cook?" Smith offered with a grin. "Both of you," Smith wiggled his fingers at the the duo. "Need back up cooks in the event that we lose a significant member of the crew."

Craig rubbed his chin, silently, looking aside giving it careful thought then turned his gaze upon Smith and nodded.

"Teach us."

"Except for Link. Link is just a boy." Smith gestured toward the boy with a hand. "Maybe when he is older."

"When he is older." Craig agreed. "Speaking of age. .. We should have a cooking shift decided for when we have to cook."

"I am the oldest so I go first." Smith volunteered with a shake of his hand.

"We got that decided." Craig said.

"I go second," Dina said.

"Then I go third." Craig added.

"And I don't cook at all." Link said.

The small group laughed in unison and so did Link. 

"We are going to be landing on the next planet in two days to collective supplies as we have enough rations to last us for five months." Craig explained to the crew as he folded his arms and the crew listened to his report. The members of the crew grew began to get confused as their features became decorated by puzzlement so the commander decided to explain. "According to Robon, it will take two days to reach the next planet. It is in the nearest system close to the one that we warped into by accident."

"Robon will provide aid when necessary." Robon announced.

"And I can help Craig with finding food to replenish our food pantry!" Link said.

"And I will provide the help!" Dina said.

"And I shall do the cooking -- even the lessons for our inexperienced doe -- if my delicate health is willing," Smith rubbed his back with a stray hand as he grimaced looking back on a another small but tiny matter. "I am going to need some help with that."

"You have all the willing hands aboard this ship, Doctor Smith." Craig said. 

Smith nodded then went away to a door to a cabin and slid it open.


	2. Comfort

Dina went to her cabin after the older man and peered in to her room spotting that it were small and narrow compared to her large bedroom back on Earth. It was different compared to the bedrooms that she had grown up with in her lifetime from home, to family's place, to high school, to college, and so on. She leaned against the frame looking on then entered and closed the door behind her.

She sat down to the cot unable to sleep as the hours passed. She heard the older man snore away from his cabin beside her room and the young boy snoring away. She was plagued by thoughts of worry, concern, dread. _Do they think we're dead? Are we ever going to go home? Are we going to die here? Am I going to reach Saturn as a young woman?_ Her figure vibrated as she got up to her feet then made her way to the door then fell against the corner and wept into her hands.

The door across from Dina opened then a shaky hand lowered on to her shoulder and became steady.

"I am okay." Dina insisted.

"You are not okay, doe." Smith said. "I can see it as clear as day."

Dina looked up toward Smith then wiped off a tear with her orange sleeve.

"I am scared." Dina confessed.

"So am I." Smith admitted. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Dina sobbed with a nod then Smith helped her back to her seat.

"Where do I start?" Dina sobbed. "The ship, being lost, the hopelessness. . . that is so much to go over."

"I recommend being lost and try to add your feelings," Smith suggested. 

"Okay. . ." Dina paused as she began to gain a grip over herself and clenched on the top of her knees then sighed. "This only happens in movies, television shows, holonovels, and holomovies." She looked down toward the floor. "That it is part of a stupid cartoon that I am living. Talking frogs, talking tall machines, seeing a planet split in half lacking its center in the sky. That isn't a normal sight to see. I feel that I am just a actress playing her part."

Smith nodded in agreement.

"It does feel that way." Smith said. "That it isn't really happening."

"What if it is all in my head?" Dina's head perked up shifting toward the older man and grew hopeful. "That all of this is a nasty dream?"

"For shame, it is not." Smith met her gaze with a shake of his head then pinched her cheek.

"Ow!" Then Dina laughed, rubbing her cheek, as her figure shook. "I get it. . " Her smile faded. "It is real."

"The nature of this predicament is very unforeseen, unnatural, and unexpected." Smith replied to the younger woman as he looked aside. "Something of a fever dream."

"It is surreal that this is happening." Dina started to open up to the older man as she agreed with him and Smith turned his attention upon her. "That it shouldn't be happening."

She became really quiet for a few minutes with him in the cabin then Dina sighed.

"I feel like if I close my eyes and reopen them then I will wake up to find we're at the Saturn Space Station. That we're all fine and can go home on the next flight if we wanted to." Smith looked aside, ruefully, with a smile at the could have been and should have been dream like feeling. "That we have control of our destinies."

Smith remained silent.

"I feel powerless in space. I used to feel in charge of the situation and in control of my own destiny in space."

She untied her hair, dropped the scrunchie, letting the mess of her blonde hair fall on her shoulders and behind it.

"Now? Now. . . I feel more helpless than I have ever been."

Her hands fell into fists as she clenched at the fabric of her pant and closed her eyes with a wince.

"And I feel like this ship could get into another meteor storm, get chipped severely, and implode and there is nothing I can do to stop it!"

Smith nodded along.

"Absolutely nothing."

Dina paused for a few moment.

"It hurts knowing that and I feel tired but I can't sleep because we might get attacked again and be thrown like rag dolls!"

Her voice became shaky and quite emotional as she trembled on the floor. Smith put a hand on Dina's shoulder and gave it a gentle rub listening to her. She lowered her head as the side of her hand cupped the side of her face, distraught and heartbroken, tears becoming a noted feature of her demeanor. Smith rubbed his hand in a circle as she sobbed into her hands then his hand moved to her shoulder blade and continued the rubbing. The feeling soothed her as she came to a pause in her weeping. 

"Knowing that we are lost with no certain way home makes my heart shatter apart like the great quake that split California off to its own island off the Americas." Her eyes opened then she shifted her attention upon Smith who was nodding to what she had to say. Now, it was her turn to lift a brow as she put her hands between her knees, leaning her back against the wall. "How can you be so calm but be a little frightened being lost in space?"

Smith smiled back at the younger woman as his hand motioned toward the side of her shoulder then rested on it.

"Would you like to know?" Smith lifted a brow ever so slightly.

"I would, I would." Dina nodded in return quite curious. "You don't strike me as the kind of person who would take the risk for a sabbatical in space given recent events."

Smith nodded, lowering his brow, then looked up toward the ceiling.

"Years ago, I considered going out and being part of the doctors without families for Kelper Control's endeavor to colonize the Kelper solar system should there be a massive unexpected crash land and they needed all the doctors on hand to get there immediately without a huge amount of paperwork being done. Or a whole lot of lag time between crash and arrival."

"The space version of doctors without borders!" Dina's blue eyes flashed open.

"I did." Smith smirked, fondly. "I was a little braver back then with that thought and younger."

"You left Earth for a space sabbatical." She put a hand on his shoulder then gave it a gentle squeeze with a smile. "You are braver now." Then she frowned as her comment came back at her. Her brows furrowed together. "Why didn't you go then, Doctor Smith?" 

Smith lowered his gaze back toward Dina.

"I had nightmares about being lost in a saucer for weeks with a family."

Dina was quiet. Finally, Dina understood as the older man paused, reflecting over the nightmares, quite not shaken of the nightmares as he thought that he was.

"The volunteers who volunteered their ships for the doctor program were families." Smith explained to the younger woman by his side. "Even the first colonists of Alpha Centauri offered their ships for it and had stashed lots of deutronium away for the potential emergency as part of the program."

"Oh." was all Dina said.

"It's very numb to me right now." His voice fell low and that was all he had to say.

"But, you're living the nightmare." Dina reminded him with her hands tipped upside down then threw them at him in exasperation. "The nightmare that persuaded you from going off into space."

"I have healthy coping skills that I have gained to prepare for it and it helps me down on most occasions in my seat." Smith elaborated taking out a stress ball from his pocket then squeezed it in his hand repeatedly with a smile. "Never fear, comfort is all around you, my girl."

Dina smiled back at the older man.

"Can I hug you?" Dina requested.

"You may do that any time." He rested his hand on her back with a smile as he put away the stress ball into his side pocket. "You may never need to ask for as long as we are quite lost in space."

Dina hugged Smith then he returned the hug.

"We are going to be okay long as we stick together, right?" Dina asked.

Smith looked on, doubtfully, but afraid.

"Yes, we are." Smith said, reassuringly.

"You give good hugs." Dina said after a short moment of silence.

"I know the best kind of hugs that the hopeless need." Smith said.

Dina sniffled from the other side of the hug.

"Thank you." Dina said.

"You're very welcome." Smith replied. 

It was a long hug that broke off with Dina withdrawing as she visibly appeared to be feeling better. She squeezed his hand then smiled back at him for the strength that his comfort had given her. She stepped up to her feet then helped the older man up to his feet.

"NoOOOOoo!"

A loud scream drew their attention off the other then storm toward Link's cabin. Link was crying with sweat decorating his skin and staining his green uniform. Smith and Dina came to the boy's side. Dina caught the boy into her arms as he cried against her chest. She wrapped her arms around him as Craig came to the center of the doorway to Link's temporary quarters.

"What happened?" Craig asked, concerned.

"Link had a nightmare." Dina said.

"A very unsettling one." Smith noted on the nature. "His first nightmare in space and it won't be the last."

"What happened in it, little brother?" Craig asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. 

"That the Eternals killed you and Doctor Smith! That it was down to me and Dina fleeing from them."

Link's voice was cracking as he explained. The adults in the room listened, attentively, to the young boy's nightmare. Smith began to develop some sympathy for the nightmare. The boy was trembling like a leaf as he retold the tale. He sniffled, wiping his nose, as tears were freely coming down his skin. 

"And then there was these frissbee crafts, unlike their Chariot crafts, chasing after us." Link gulped, clearing his throat, squeezing his eyes shut then Dina patted on his shoulder as Smith remained beside her only passively listening to the tale. "We were hiding out in a cave when Dina was shot and fell dead beside me. I tried to wake her up but I couldn't. No matter how I shook her---She just wouldn't wake up. She didn't move a inch."

Dina squeezed his shoulder in comfort.

"Then it was just Robon and I. . ."

The room was quiet for a solid few moments as he squeezed his eyes close.

"Robon and I learned the positive and negative aspect to the eternals, plotted a way to get the Jupiter, but Robon. . ."

Link's voice fell as his figure was trembling. Craig brought over a chair and sat down alongside Dina and took Link's hand then squeezed it. _We're here._ The reminders eased the young boy as he opened his eyes looking toward his older brother almost on the verge of tears. He wiped the tears off with a sleeve. They had been all so close to losing each other back then that felt only ages ago. He looked up toward the older man of the crew who only nodded.

"In the fire fight struggling to get the Jupiter 2, Robon was ambushed."

It was another long moment before Link could continue.

"He was destroyed by their combined attack. So I woke up. It was frightening and terrifying more than the nightmares I had on Earth."

"Frissbee crafts, my boy?" Smith lifted his brow.

"Yeah." Link nodded.

"How do you know they were frissbees and not saucers?" Smith inquired.

"They weren't gray, Doctor Smith." Link replied.

"Who in their right minds would design fighters that way?" Dina asked.

"Being so thin and hollow is always a bad idea when it doesn't have enough equipment to sustain a crew." Craig followed the train of thought that Dina had began to explore then the older brother raised his brows. "Unless, those were trigger happy scouts."

The group laughed and so did Link laughing at the nightmare. Eventually, they stopped laughing after a few minutes. Dina looked down in concern upon the young boy. 

"Do you feel like you can go back to sleep?" Dina asked.

"I can't go back to sleep. Normally, mom and dad let me sleep with them after I have a nightmare . . . But they're not here."

Sorrow filled the air.

"Such sweet sorrow, such sweet innocence, such sweet pain; a self-made orphan." Smith groaned rubbing his forehead as his head was leaned back.

A spark went off in Dina's eyes.

"I have a idea." Dina said. "Doctor Smith, Craig, I will need your help for this"

"What is your idea, Dina?" Craig asked. "If it helps my kid brother then I am in for it."

"And so am I." Smith agreed.

"First night is going to be spent as a makeshift family," Dina replied to the men. "Get your bed." she motioned him out of the cabin. "We're going to have a sleep over party in the center of the residential deck."

"I shall do as you ask." Smith said, pleased.

Smith bobbed his head up with a grin then made his way out of the room and so did Craig.

"Link, get your bed and bring it out." Dina said.

"Okay!" Link said.

Dina left slid her cot off the platform in her cabin then slid the bed out of the room. Smith returned tugging his bed out of the bedroom then slid it to the side and Link took his bed out of the room. The small group settled down into their beds with Link wedged between the adults. With a switch of a button by Craig's hand, the nightlights filled the air with cooler colors contrasting against the darkness of the circular room.

Soon enough, they were fast asleep in the center of the room. The boy stirred very little as they snored away. And that was how Robon found them in the morning, all spread out along the four beds, undisturbed by their current fate. Robon returned to the bridge as he elected to let the adults awake on their own. Smith hogged a good portion of the blankets on the other side off the stacked bed while resting on his side snoring away as the tail end of the mess of fabric was clenched by Dina over her mid-riff with Craig and Link wedged between the duo.


	3. Listening ear

It was five hours later that Robon returned with gray and orange spacesuits in order to keep the flight uniforms not being worn out. The passengers of the rocketship looked at the table set in the middle of the room with boots in front of them in their sizes. Robon departed the residential deck and returned to the bridge leaving them to resolve the matter.

Dina sighed, sadly upon the uniform.

"This is it." Dina picked her uniform up with a frown. "The rest of our lives with explorer space uniforms."

"That is what humanity is, Dina." Craig said. "We are all explorers in heart."

"Oh, the pain. . . The pain." Smith picked up his uniform. "This is just the way I saw it in my nightmares."

Smith shook his head then walked away.

"I am a space boy!" Link leaped out of his cabin in his uniform, arms stretched out, grinning from ear to ear.

Craig laughed, turning toward his younger brother, with his uniform set against his side.

"The most genuine space boy there ever was." Craig said. "Once we get close enough to the planet, you are going to have to change back into the uniform."

Dina quietly went to her cabin then closed the door and wept into her hands with her back against the door.

* * *

The Jupiter 2 made a landing later at a grassy hill. The crew cheered in celebration for a undisturbed arrival and hugged each other. It was a short lived cheering celebration all in all. 

"I detect a wheat field away by eight kilometers." Robon announced.

"How wide is the field, Robon?" Craig asked.

"Forty by fifty kilometers." Robot reported.

"That should do for the cereal, pancakes, and bread." Dina said.

"If only we can find sugar cane fields to preserve the meat and fish then we're all set." Link said.

"There are chickens! Chickens! Chiccccccckeeeeeens! Chickens, perhaps there may be a intelligent civilization of people!" Smith announced as he began to grin and grew excited over the prospect of civilization. "There has to be a population of people here."

"Negative, that is red junglefowl." Robon informed the older man. "The population here is pre-warp, it is also in the prior-community era, much of the planet's civilization are nomadic travelers according to my historical databanks regarding such behavior."

"Being thwarted by the prime directive, oh dear. Nomadic humans may be speaking a proto version of Greek by now!"

"Which means we will have to keep low and hide from the locals." Dina observed.

"And some safety social distancing if it can be done." Smith said.

"Social distancing?" Craig asked. "What is social distancing? Is that a old word for shunning?"

"No, it's a word that was coined when I was a young man about the plague about keeping your distance from someone." Smith replied with a grimace.

"That is the first time I have heard it." Dina said.

"Me too." Craig said in agreement looking toward the older man.

"A forgotten phrase that is hardly used these days on Earth and for that reason, it must be applauded to have been forgotten because we don't use it anymore." Smith replied, grinning from ear to ear, delighted on his report on the issue.

"Robon, get the austrian sickles ready." Craig ordered the purple machine.

"I will return." Robon announced.

"May I help, Craig?" Link asked.

"Link, you're a kid." Craig looked upon his younger brother. "Kids need to have a childhood."

"Well, for all you know I may not get the chance to have a childhood now that we're in space." Link reminded to his older brother.

Craig smiled, his hands shifted on to his hips, looking down upon his brother. 

"Which is why I am going to make you have a childhood." Craig shifted his attention upon Smith who stiffened as though he had been locked on by a high tech blazer with a aim that targeted at his chest. "Doctor Smith, I like you to do me a favor and take my little brother exploring."

"Really, Commander?" Smith asked.

"With Robon." Craig said.

"How very inconsiderate of you." Smith raised his head up. "I barely get along with this mechanical dunce."

"It is the best that we got right now!" Craig snapped.

"I mean, he can be a mechanical dunce at times. . . . " Smith withdrew his objection.

"I am so used to seeing people at parks coming out from under the woodwork when I least expect it. . ." Link looked toward the doorway that lead to the exit of the ship. "That is going to take awhile getting used to have a robot as a protector."

"It will take awhile for me, too." Craig admitted, softly. "Having a navigation machine protecting my brother."

"And we will adapt." Smith said.

The group were silent, reluctant to move out of the bridge, as if any movement would confirm their foreseeable existence and the hard labor that they would have to do. Even the trials and tribulations that wasn't confirmed by a judge, jury, defense, and prosecution team that laid out all the charges that made the jury agree to hand them their consequence. The door to the lower decks opened then everyone shifted their attention to Robon.

"I have returned." Robon returned with two austrian sickles then handed them to Dina and Craig.

"Come, Link!" Smith flicked a wrist turning away from the front window.

Craig turned toward Dina with a grin.

"Ready to be a survivalist, Dina?"

"I am ready for days like these, Craig. Days of not being chased by aliens."

"Me too."

Craig smiled then they left the bridge side by side.

* * *

By the time evening rolled around, stacks of wheat were left alongside the Jupiter with twine wrapped around the stems keeping them together. Smith and Link returned, bruised and scratched, grinning from ear to ear with Robon tailing behind them holding on to several chickens in his arms while the men were holding rows of dead rabbits connected to string that were held up by long thin tree branches. The reality of their existence hit Craig like a bunch of pieces of gold bricks. The reality of a boy not playing around with kids his age now becoming a hunter with someone twice his age being his mentor hit Craig. Craig fought back the tears.

Robon prepared the meat and turned the fur into other material once stripping them in the kitchen while the passengers ate their meal laughing over Smith's retellings of their great chase. Craig's heart became layered in sorrow and bitterness with each interruption by Link and laugh about the meat mission. The commander's smile became a little less genuine as the severity and the unfairness of the situation came in. After dinner, Craig went outside the ship and folded his arms looking up toward the night sky.

Almost a hour later, he sensed a visitor joining him.

"Commander, how are you doing?" Smith's voice came behind him.

Craig sighed.

"Horrible." Craig admitted.

Smith walked directly over to Craig's side.

"This is about your little brother. . ." Smith prodded. "isn't it?"

"It is." Craig confirmed in a small voice.

"How about you talk?" Smith offered. "I listen."

Smith became silent then Craig turned toward him.

"This was my FIRST flight, Doctor Smith! My first flight!" he put his hands on his chest. "And I failed to get everyone out of the meteor storm! I failed!"

Smith frowned at the younger man's announcement then lifted a brow, incredulously.

"I happen to disagree with that assessment very strongly as -- " Smith's hands motioned toward himself. "I am still standing alive and breathing."

"Except we are lost." Craig held his palm out pointing toward the night sky. 

"Commander, you saved your prized crew of certain death." Smith reminded. "Meteor shield or not preventing the window from shattering--your moves were precise and life saving."

Craig shook his head then paced in front of the ship.

"There are rumors in Space Academy about the reason why former cadets that go missing on their first flight and don't turn up until much later as survivors or skeletons on asteroids, moons, within moons, and stray planets that weren't even discovered until the emergency space beacon came into the solar system and the remains of the ship are found. And you know what is common for all of these flights? They had family aboard. I didn't listen to the warnings because those are stories, coincidences, rumors--"

Smith studied the younger man.

"But, they are not." Craig's shoulders slumped.

Craig got a big sigh off his chest.

"I know, I read of those crashes and disappearance acts." Craig shook his hands.

Craig resumed pacing back and forth.

"I knew what really went wrong from the black box, the pilot's report, the robot's report, the report of the investigative committee after investigating and simulating the event once they had everything."

Smith's blue eyes followed Craig's figure below the stars.

"Most of my friends were just that superstitious in the academy _and_ after attending it just disbelieving the facts in hand. They didn't make my mistake. I knew of the dangers. Space weather is unpredictable. The atmosphere was clear, the forecasted weather in space was clear, everything was clear for flight!"

Craig's hands rolled into fists then he threw them into the air releasing the pent up anger.

"It's not fair! Link is just a kid! He has his whole life ahead of him!"

Smith remained quiet letting the younger man talk.

"A entire damn life to spend at his leisure with technology," he smacked his hand against his palm. "Civilization," -- _smack_ \-- "parents," -- _smack_ \--"long term childhood friends," -- _smack_ , his hand hit the center of his palm. "--a secured future being known."

His fist hit a tree then flung his hand back with a grunt.

"And I took my little brother's life away by letting him come with me for Easter _vacation_."

Smith nodded in agreement.

"You did." Smith agreed.

Craig leaned his head against the tree, lowering it down, as he started to cry.

"You can't change time, Commander." Craig turned toward Smith. "Life is unfair but it is up to us to make it fair."

Craig's attention shifted toward the Jupiter 2 with dread of going back inside and struggling to pave a way for his brother to live.

"How do we make it fair with so many aliens and being overpowered by their security detail?"

"A web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." Smith rehearsed a old and familiar literary line. "We make the best of what we have." A small but tiny smile came from the corners of his lips. "It is how humanity colonized the solar system and spread out from our cradle."

"God wants me to be a fighter, a diplomat, and a representative to Earth?" Craig asked.

Smith frowned, his brows etched together, at the younger man's comment.

"To the whole of _humanity_ , Commander." Smith said then his features softened turning toward the shuttle that had golden light beaming out. "Not just the people on Earth."

Smith shifted back toward Craig.

"Craig, you have to put your regret to bed." he gestured a hand toward the Jupiter 2 as Craig had his back against the tree with one leg crossed. "Because you need Link just as he needs you."

Craig didn't reply for a few moment as the man lowered his arm to his side then started to walk away.

"I will do that." Craig said.

Smith paused on the stairs then shifted toward Craig.

"If you ever need to rant about the stresses and the problems of space then my ear is always open for you." Smith reminded the young man. "I have a doctorate in psychology."

"Might take you up on that offer. . . . ." Craig replied. "Good night, Zachary." The younger man sported a small smile. "Thank you for the listening."

"Good night, Craig."

Smith nodded then walked on into the ship and Craig turned toward the piles of wheat with his hands in his pocket. Smith came to a pause at the doorway into the ship then turned toward the younger man's direction, cupping his hands around his mouth, then proceeded to holler back at the commander.

"And you're welcome!"

Smith returned in to the Jupiter 2.

Minutes later, Craig followed.


	4. Mishaps

"Craig, do you have time to go fishing after breakfast sometime this week?" Link asked. "Just you and me?"

The question was sudden and unexpected that morning as they sat the meal table looking from one another. Craig's head lifted up so he faced the young boy then smiled.

"I have all the time in the world." Craig said.

Dina was eating slowly as she spun her spoon in a circle in the porridge then Smith reached out and placed a hand on her arm. Her hand clenched into a fist and trembled as she were ready to fall apart. The older man put his hand on Dina's hand then gave it a squeeze then she started to cry. Smith's hand went to her back as he leaned forward. Link got up from his chair then hugged her from behind and Craig joined in the hug from the side.

* * *

The next few days were spent hiking with improvised walking sticks made of thin tree branches in a straight file line. Dina observed how similar the alien planet was to Earth in detail compared to the ground that was different from the last one they had been on. It was covered in a layer of living soil, worms, insects, and grass. So brown not dark gray some land from the planet that they had been on before that was a victim of its civilization.

The weather was Earth-like in every way. The reminders were painful but knowing that she was not alone in this situation was comforting. She looked up toward the sky that was partially blocked off except for a thin line between each tree's individual branches. She looked on spotting a raccoon climbing the tree bark staring at her direction. Dina smiled, widely, at the raccoon that was white-blonde.

Smith's distinctive shriek came from behind the group then they turned around spotting that Smith were not there anymore.

"Doctor Smith?"

Link was the first to charge on where the older man had crashed. 

"Link!" Craig cried.

"He is alright, Craig." Link said then turned toward Craig.

Link spotted the older man in a pit covered in head to toe in mud, sticks, and leaves. The old man was leaned against the side alongside a series of spikes that protruded from the ground just shy of a few inches from where he had fallen with skeletons belonging to humanoid beings scattered around the pit with little sign of wild life skeletons.

"Save me! Saaave meee! Saaaaaaaaveee mee!"

The group loomed over him then proceeded to laugh.

"Help me out of here you laughing hyenas!"

Craig leaned against a tree.

"Hold on, Doctor Smith." Craig said as he stopped laughing.

"Just get me out of here!" Smith shouted then whimpered. "I am scared."

"Alright, gang, let's find two tree branches and lift them in." Craig looked down toward the older man. "Doctor Smith, how good are you when it comes to tree climbing?"

"I was raised in Georgia," Smith folded his arms, lifting his chin up, facing the crowd. "The epitome of tree climbing." his arms were thrown into the air with a grin. "Been a long time!" He lowered his arms down to his side.

The group departed from the pit then searched the forest line. Dina and Craig picked up a long tree branch then made their way back to the pit. Link and Robon found themselves a equally as long tree branch then returned to the pit. Robon carefully slid the branch in to the pit then the group backed off.

"You can climb now, Doctor Smith!" Dina announced.

Smith grasped on to the two long and thick branches then proceeded to attempt climbing his way out. His grip was icy and cold against the tree bark as he slid down for just a moment then proceeded to lose his balance. It went in slow motion for the crew watching the older man fall back as Smith proceeded to scream as his arms were flailing seeking for a means of evading what laid below. Link found strength to walk forward and reach his hand out to attempt stopping the fall. Craig could only watch in horror.

" **No**!" Link shrieked.

Robon knocked Link to Craig's arms then flew on toward the falling man.

"Robon!" Craig called.

Robon stretched a claw out, leaning sideways, then his claw clenched on to the man's uniform.

"I got you, Doctor Smith." Robon said.

Robon wheeled back lifting the older man up as he retreated. Members of the Jupiter 2 crew clenched on to the side of his shoulders then yanked him on to the surface. Smith brushed off the dirt, leaves, and dead grass of him and the members of the crew did the same for him where they could. Eventually, Smith was back on the ground with his would be rescuers.

"Thank heavens! I am safe!" Smith declared. "And you--" he glared at the machine. "PINCHING simpleton almost stabbed me!"

"That does not compute with what my sensors indicated of my servo report." Robon replied as Smith rubbed his chest with a scowl.

"Asides to that," Smith waved his hand as he were still trembling in a way that concerned the other members. "Thank you."

The passengers of the Jupiter 2 trapped him in a hug, relieved that he hadn't fallen to his death. Smith allowed the hug to remain as his heart ceased to race and the mind numbing terror started to falter away. The hair all over his body was raised and he felt at any moment that he could still fall unexpectedly. Moments after, the group hug parted off the older man.

"Are you okay, Doctor Smith?" Link asked.

"I am perfect as a cucumber, my boy." Smith replied. "Asides to a sore thigh . . ." He rubbed the side of his thigh with a frown. "That is quite manageable."

"You have just gone through a traumatizing event," Robon said. "You are not perfect. You are in dire need of a shower."

"Robon is right," Craig agreed with a nod to the machine's comment. "Doctor Smith, how would you feel having a shower underneath a waterfall?"

"Noooo! I would get even more dirty!" Smith wailed in protest against the idea. "Covered in it! Incomprehensible! Why don't I take a shower at the Jupiter 2?"

"Because we have to use it when necessary." Craig replied to the older man. "And you aren't exactly covered in blood."

Smith grimaced, folding his arms, looking aside then sighed.

"Oh, alright." Smith relented to the request as his shoulders lowered quite defeated by the argument. "But I am not skinny dipping with company like Link and Dina around."

"I didn't say skinny dipping, Doctor Smith."

"It is only obvious that is where my shower will lead to because having a waterfall to myself and cool water to swim in."

"Now that you mention it; we all deserve to have kind of relaxation." Craig smiled at the thought then so did the other members of the crew. "Robon, get three swimming trunks and one woman's speedo from the uniform synthesizer and meet us at the first waterfall that we discovered days ago."

"Who is the third man here?" Dina asked, puzzled.

"Robon is." Craig said. "He was designed to be water proof in the event of a crash landing as a additional protective black box."

"How water proof?" Link asked.

"He bobs on the water, Link." Craig said with one hand on his little brother's shoulder and the brothers laughed.

Robon's helm lowered then he wheeled off. The crew continued walking among the landscape that slowly changed from trees to boulders and the steady bubbling brooke that was small became wider until it were a lake with each passing mile. The crew came to a pause over the boulders looking over the edge and grinned. They admired the see through view of the water that revealed all its tiny and irreplaceable landmarks even trees, boulders, and fish among the landscape. Smith made a run for it then came to a series of boulders that acted as stepping stones.

"Be careful, Doctor Smith!" Dina warned.

"Never fear, " Smith turned toward Dina with a smile. "Smith is careful!"

"He is very energetic for his age," Craig noted as the man came to a stop under the falling wall of water and twirl with a laugh throwing his head back.

Robon reappeared with a clump of clothing in between his claws.

"Swimming wear is prepared."

"Doctor Smith!" Craig hollered. "Get back here!"

Smith turned toward him.

"Why the ever so?" Smith hollered back, poking his head out of the waterfall, lifting a brow.

"We are ready to go swimming!" Dina replied.

"Wee!"

Smith whooped then came running out of the wall of water and made a bee-line for the clothing. He took out the black undergarments then made a bolt for the bushes. He flicked his uniform off sending it falling over the bush then made a run for it and cannon balled into the water. The other members of the crew changed into their swimming uniforms then jumped into the water. Robon put on the swimming trunks on strapping them on with a thick strap then flew on toward the water. His figure remained on the surface of the water then began to twirl splashing water around.

Craig came running out of the water rubbing his shoulders, "Brr!" as the group watched him run off then return with a heating unit laughing him off. Craig slid it into the side of the lake then stood there rubbing his hands together to the amusement of his passengers. Then Craig walked back a few steps, slid down the side of the lake's ridge, and leaned his arms against the grassy terrain as though he were in a hot tub as Smith tended to himself, Dina performed laps around the lake, and Link did variations of the cannon ball leaping into it. 

From around the lake, there were arrows being held up in aim toward the group with a steady aim following their figures for hours in end until the crew departed from the lakeside covered in towels having a laugh. The pointed arrows were lowered down to the ground then withdrawn from the ground. One of the nomadic travelers walked forward with two toes among a u-shaped foot revealing their unique figure for all to be seen even the strange patterns on his skin.

The warriors withdrew into the forest.

* * *

"Is this how the colonists of Alpha Centauri felt?"

Dina wondered this question out loud once she were in the wheat field once more that was decorated as far as the eye could see the day after the close call. There were small cages settled for the birds alongside a large boulder that were hidden by the tall wavering green grass that towered up to four feet with a thin view of the ground floor being apparent and the cooing of the animals were distant. The nature of her predicament was strange taking on the role of a hunter without any technology.

"I can safely attest that it is exactly how you feel, my girl."

Dina lifted a brow, a small smirk making the edges of her lips tilt up, in amusement.

"Read scientific journals about that?"

"Why yes, I did." Smith confirmed as he picked up the chicken cage and held it close to his side. "The most critically acclaimed one was jointly written by Doctor Maureen Robinson and _President_ John Robinson entitled 'colonizing the final frontier' in 2007."

"I have heard of that novel." Dina looked back at the booklet in her memory as it laid on the bookshelf being surrounded by cadets who were swarming around it taking other copies of it, thrilled, excited, and overjoyed to get their hands on it. "It comes recommended in the colonizing classes for those who want to be trained and prepared for colonizing deep space."

"It is a very thoroughly and enjoyable read from start to finish." Smith noted. "How about you go first?" he aimed his hand toward the primitive and wild chickens. "You are agile and faster than little old, slow, and arthritis pained little me."

"That's a wonderful idea, Doctor Smith!" Dina said. "I stir them, they run to you, and catch them!"

"That isn't what I was thinking but it does provide some use with me." Smith said. 

"Move the carts along the tree line and be quiet," Then Dina added. "Please."

Smith whimpered looking on toward the rooster and the hens picking at the ground searching for small and tiny insects. He shifted his attention on toward her then nodded. The pressing fear of being tackled by the fleeing chickens that would otherwise scar him with their talons and their beaks in desperate bids to reach safety bothered him at the corner of his mind.

"I will try." Smith gulped.

Smith carefully went along the tree line then dropped the carts alongside the tree line and within the forest beside large tree roots. He did this silently without making a sound. In one life, this would have come in handy and saved his life in the field being a top notch spy and his knack of lying on a basis of habit would have gotten him out of tight situations. One of these skills were to be used, as decidedly by the Gods above, to ensure his survival.

He was thankful that he didn't need to lie to them about his seat aboard the Jupiter 2. The professor of Earth University counted himself blessed with all things considered in how he had gotten lost in space. And it wasn't even his fault. Only God's fault. Smith held his hand up as he stood on the ridge of the tree line then closed his fingers against his palm, slanted his fist sideways, then held only his thumb up. With that done, he lowered his hand and waited for Dina to come running through the prairie flapping her arms making noise.

Smith heard a loud ungodly noise from the grass then screamed and made a run for it as did the animals. Smith ran through the forest running fast as he could darting through the tree line, buzzing past trees as he heard his name called quite distantly that grew fainter and fainter by each passing second. _Loud noise, something big, something scary, something with big claws and sharp teeth had to have made that!  
_

From afar, Dina was crying out, "Doctor Smith! DOCTOR SMITH!" concerned and troubled as the baskets were closed full of chickens behind her.

* * *

Robon electrocuted the ground then worms were coming out of the soil. The brothers collected the handfuls of worms then proceeded to hook a worm to a improvised hook with a bobber. They sat down on to the makeshift seat made of a fallen tree branch. Craig looked toward his younger brother as he faked a smile upon him, bitterly wounded by a single thought. _He should be doing this with father_.

"Hey. . . " Craig started then nudged his brother's shoulder. "Link."

"Yeah?" Link's attention did not waver off the bobber.

"Do you regret going on the flight to Saturn for Easter vacation?" Craig asked.

"No." Link said.

The answer came as a surprise Craig.

"Why?"

"Because I get to be on a adventure with my adult brother." Link looked up toward Craig. "I don't have to imagine your exploits, how you are doing, and if you are alive or not."

Link's green eyes shifted off Craig toward the long lake that extended on for fifty-four kilometers. Link shrugged looking on toward the tree line that had became a familiar sight over the last few days among the environment.

"So, this is the best world for you?" Craig asked.

"Course, it is." Link replied then he was quiet for a solid minute.

"But. . ." Craig said.

"I miss my parents, though." Link said.

"Is losing them worth being on this adventure with me?" Craig asked.

Link looked up toward Craig then nodded with a smile, certain, his eyes lit up.

"I don't regret a thing." Link said. "Well except for going against your orders; that I _do_ regret."

"If you could go back in time, what would you do?" Craig asked.

"Insist mom and dad come along with us for vacation." Link replied, simply.

Craig smiled then laughed and turned his attention upon the moving bobber.

"I got one!" Craig announced. "I got one!"

Craig reeled in his line and cackled as Link cheered.

And the heart break in his heart began to mend.

* * *

The brothers returned that afternoon with laughter and Robon trailing behind them. It was Craig who came to a pause spotting Dina pacing back and forth before a properly assembled fence with the hens and rooster enclosed inside of it. Dina approached the core group then proceeded to relay what happened.

Craig's eyes flashed open then followed on in the direction that Dina had pointed in. Robon followed on. They tore through the clearing then were halted by Robon's wailing, "DANGER! DANGER!" flailing his long arms in the air. They came to a pause spotting figures in the tree line as Craig extended his arm out then stepped forward and slid his hand down his pocket gripping on to the blazer in his pocket.

"Are you the leader of this Godly assemble?"

"First things first, what is your name?"

"Kavaka." Kavaka said. "Your status among the arrivals."

"I am Commander Craig Robinson." Craig confirmed. "You speak our language."

"No, you are speaking our language, Godly One." Kavaka said.

"This must mean there is a standard language in this galaxy." Craig noted out loud.

The taller being gestured toward the crowd behind them.

"Retrieve the peppered Godly One, Vaschita." Kavaka said.

"What do you mean by peppered?" Craig asked, concerned.

"He intruded in a game of play with our youngsters . . ." The leader of the warriors turned away from the crowd as two members began to make their way off from them. "and we may have thrown Pepper Dust into his eyes."

The leader of the warriors grimaced as Craig winced and grew horrified hearing the whine of the older man from the distance. The commander released his grip on the blazer then reached back and linked his hand behind his back. Link was restrained by Robon keeping him at bay with his claws and his back toward the group as the young boy screeched, "Let me at them! Let me at them! Let me at 'em!"

"Is he okay?" Craig asked.

"Impressively, he went through the hardest and difficult valley of our young men and women's rite of passage quite alive but harmed, angry, and frightened like one of our pet felines chased in by a pet wolf."

"So he is okay." Craig's brows lowered.

Kavaka stepped aside and Craig's eyes were drawn toward the sound of whimpering. The younger man's eyes paused on the trembling man with red poka dots decorating his face with redness among the swollen parts of his face along his eyes, his hands were covered in scrapes and scratches with torn sleeves, his boots hadn't fared well either as his eyes registered that the man's boots had been eaten away by something with burns decorating his toes.

"H-h-h-help me, someone, help me." Smith cried.

"Sssh," Craig said. "Don't speak. You're going to be alright. It's okay. You are surrounded by friends."

"Commander?" Smith's feet caused the dried leaves to crack under his feet and wince with a large winter blanket wrapped around his figure. "Oh my dear Commander," the older man began to smile. "you negotiated for me."

"Not much of a negotiation," Craig said with a laugh. "Sounds to me that you were a puzzle to them."

Craig was needless to say surprised as the older man stumbled out of their grip then was caught by Dina and Link.

"We got you." Dina said.

"Both of us." Link chimed in.

"In welcoming arms . . ." Smith said. "Sweet Mary, Joseph, Jesus."

In a flash, the older man was out between them as his head fell and his shoulder slumped. Dina and Link proceeded to flee for the Jupiter 2 leaving behind the commander at the edge of the clearing as he watched them go on.

"Kavaka, thank you for---" Craig turned around toward the warriors then noticed they were no where to be seen. "Returning my passenger. . ."

The commander shrugged it off then ran after the group. Kavaka watched quite distantly far away from the edge of the treeline observing the crew become distant specters to his eyes. Satisfied that they were gone, he turned away then walked on leaving not a sound behind his steps.

* * *

Robon was the first member to enter the Jupiter 2 ahead of the crew then go to elevator and roll away before their eyes. Smith was set in to his cabin with Dina while Link waited outside. Smith was stripped of his uniform and placed into his bed for certain rest. Robon returned into the cabin carrying a medical kit and a new uniform. Dina exited the cabin a long hour after with Robon by her side then Craig and Link got up to their feet.

"How is he?" Link asked.

"He is doing fine, Link." Dina said. 

"What he got?" Craig asked. "Was that part of the pepper spray?"

"No." Dina replied with a shake of her head. "He just got space chicken pox. Doctor Smith self diagnosed himself this way."

"That isn't good!" Craig exclaimed. "What is chicken pox?""

"It used to be a common childhood disease until 1995 when a vaccination was made to counter it. This disease is prone to men and those who are vulnerable even deadly to them." Robon reported as he twirled toward the commander. Craig's eyes were focused on the older man's cabin in certain dread but hope was in his eyes that it wouldn't have to be that way. "The medical equipment indicate that his entire body is fighting against it with what little is left of his last flu shot."

A loud sneeze came from within the cabin.

"AAAAHHHH CHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"Bless you!" the crew replied.

Then came the tiny, "Thank you."

"But if this continues and he gets worse, he will die without a vaccine." Dina continued off from where Robon had left off.

"So, he _is_ going to be okay if he gets better." Craig said.

"A-okay, Craig." Dina sported a grin with a nod.

Then Craig's features abruptly became serious, his brows furrowed together, as did Link.

"On the other hand?" Craig asked.

"He walked on burning coal." Dina said.

"Burning coal!" Craig exclaimed. "He saw burning coal and he ran right over them?"

"I did frighten him with my bird call." Dina shrugged, apologetically, shrugging.

"Right." Craig grew curious. "Just what kind of bird caw did you make?"

"It's the mimic noise bird, that's all you have to know." Dina replied. "It uses the sound for mating seasons."

"A parrot, Dina?" Link asked.

"No." Dina shook her head as she started to laugh. "It's smaller than that and it is generally more innocent in appearance."

"How bad are the burns?" Link asked.

"First degree burns." Dina replied.

"Robon, how long do we need to wait for him to get better?" Craig asked.

"Ten days." Robon reported. "He will require medical attention as his recovery progresses."

"Ten days!" The commander exclaimed at the computations by the navigation machine. "That is more than enough to get a little more harvest for the long flights between long distant solar systems and galaxies upon running out of packaged rations."

"Should we have a long flight between solar systems that is longer than a year then should we replenish our supply every four to five months?" Dina asked as the commander's eyes shifted toward her. "It would make sense if we had some greenery packed along for the long trip to remind us of home."

"Robon, is it recommended that we pack greenery for the long trip?"

Craig looked toward the orange tilted helm that had blue lights dancing around it as Robon shifted toward him.

"The oxygen recycle system can only support the oxygen that is being shared by the passengers of the Jupiter 2 at this time should we get additional passengers appear during flight then there may be some technicalities should oxygen be wasted faster than it can be rep---"

"In English, Robon!" Link cut off Robon.

"Affirmative." Robon relented in lay man's terms. "I can compute the additional water that will need to be cleaned and stored for the tending."

"Then do so." Craig said.

"Additional passengers beaming in is highly unlikely given that we have strong forcefields." Dina said.

"As is being space warped, Dina." Craig reminded Dina quite grimly as a snore proceeded to come from the cabin of the older man. "The green will make great decoration and . . . something else to care about asides to what is ahead of us."

"What do we do now, Craig?" Link asked.

"Hiking up the hills across from us!" Craig announced then cheerfully went on and the others followed him.

* * *

Morning came the following day and Smith didn't come out of his cabin. Craig got up to his feet from the table with a frown then went to the elevator. The elevator took him to the residential deck of the ship then he exited the elevator. He came put of the elevator then made his way to the cabin hearing a familiar snore coming out of it. He slid the door open spotting the man resting on the bed. The commander paused observing his hands were now covered in the same blisters as they were laid on his lap.

"Robon, is he okay?" Craig asked.

"Negative." Robon said.

"Will this pass?" Craig asked. "Chicken pox on Earth is easy to get over with the vaccination but this is a different version."

"I will know the answer to this question in three days."

"He can't go." Craig said as he paced back and forth in the small bay of the residential deck. "I can't lose a passenger so early into this flight." he rubbed the back of his neck then shifted toward Robon and folded his arms. "He will get better." defiance replaced the stress decorating him. "It is just a fluke." he put his hands on his hips with a grin. "I know it will be."

"We will find the answer in three days, Commander." Robon replied.

"If anything unordinary changes to your medical processors about his health. . ." Craig said. "will you tell me?"

"Affirmative." Robon said.

"Then you're on patient duty." Craig said.

"I will perform this task." Robon said.

Craig smiled then grinned and walked out with a heavy weight on his shoulders about the uncertain, dark, and unsettling times that were hinted to be ahead of him. 

* * *

Days after the distressing event crossed by, Smith had yet to recover from the space chicken pox. He was more lucid than he had been when the illness downed him to the bed and his vision was in better condition. Smith was slouched up against the bed performing a game of chess with Link with care and attentiveness. His hand fell, weakly, on the chess board, and his head fell snoring away. 

The game was longer than it was at most times when the illness ravaged his strength and his body. His voice was getting weaker and his voice even more whiny and hoarse while complaining about his headache that felt as though it were killing him (when he were awake). The way it was delivered was very telling that they needed help. Robon heated up the ration then handed it to the ill man. 

"How thank you, now go away."

Robon did as instructed.

"Doctor Smith, Robon and I found a good place to have a sun tan at."

"Ah," Smith coughed into his fist then leaned back into the head cushion looking upon Link. "was it--" he coughed once more. "grand?"

"It's cool, actually." Link said. "Full of remains of ancient civilizations and buildings."

"Sounds . . ." Smith took bites from the porridge then rubbed his forehead, his voice quite hoarse. "Oh dear."

"You would really like it but I recommend you don't talk. You have talked enough as it is. And it is really beating you up."

Smith shot a glare toward Link then sighed in resignation lowering his head and looked up in gratitude toward Link.

"It is the least I can do to hang around someone who can't go out."

"One thing." Smith coughed, hard.

"What is it?"

"Go back---" Smith hacked twice. "There."

"And what?" Link asked.

"Stand there." Smith hacked.

"Enjoy the weather?" Link asked.

Smith nodded with a small smile. 

"I will do that, Doctor Smith." He put a hand on the older man's shoulder. "It will be alright in the end. Trust me."

"I--" Smith hacked multiple times. "Do."

"Just eat." Link instructed. "No talking while I do. I will do my best to describe it and you close your eyes and imagine you're there."

* * *

Smith was out in a little less than thirty minutes after eating the meal with Link keeping watch. The boy got up from the seat then made his way out of the room leaving Robon to take the man into his arms and proceed to put him into a tub then carefully proceed to bathe him after stripping his figure keeping the man's head supported up. The young came to the elevator and put in the requested then the elevator rolled from one of the shuttle to the other end landing with a soft beep. He saw the duo eating their porridge quite slowly in the center of the kitchen at the table seated across from the other.

"Craig. . ." Link came into the dining chamber.

Craig and Dina turned their attention upon him.

"What is his health report?" Craig asked.

"He isn't well. His lymph nodes are swollen, he keeps spitting whenever he coughs, and it's getting really difficult to talk. He talks very little now."

Craig was silent as it fell upon him.

"Does he mostly sleep now?" Dina asked.

"He calls it power naps." Link replied.

"Link, it's late, how about you go to bed?" Craig suggested. "This isn't the time to start considering about what to do with him."

"We will start seeing what we can do for him in the morning." Dina added in to the conversation.

"Okay." Link put their dishes into the dish washer then returned into the elevator and was taken back into the residential deck.

Craig and Dina exchanged a worrisome glance.

"We have to pay Kavaka a visit." Craig said.

* * *

With very little medication left to tend to him, Craig took Dina with him to the forest searching for the settlement that their friend had crossed paths the following morning. Craig was in the lead with one hand wrapped around the handle of the small blazer that felt heavier than it had in recent days and his grip on it was strong. It didn't feel like one of those climbing handles one used to climb mountains, buildings, or windows. It lacked the feeling of being small in his hand.

They traveled through the forest. Warriors poked along the narrow trees staring on toward the intruders quite intrigued watching them descend through the area as they traveled through the path that had once been taken by the older man only shortly before. They traveled along the area picking up thin branches and using them as walking sticks through the forest. A few hours passed this way with their travel in a neat filed line heading on to the small village that was full of long buildings instead of teepees. Children came running into the huts and stared out the square windows.

"We are not leaving until you hand us over a cure for our friend with the chicken pox."

Slowly a figure emerged from one of the buildings carrying a small sack.

"Is your friend on Death's doorstep?" Kavaka joined the side of the other local.

"He is weak." Craig said.

"But how weak is he?" Kavaka raised a brow.

"His voice isn't the same, his coughing is a problem, and his head is hurting, and he is _suffering_." Dina said.

"Give them the medicine." Kavaka told the person beside him.

The medicine carrier came to them then took a handful of material out of sack full of berries, small sacks of water, and pieces of unusual fruit.

"This will help you." The medicine man said. "It needs to be turned into a medicine that he drinks, preferably a cup."

"And that is it?" Dina asked.

"It is." Kavaka said.

"He requires two doses." The medicine elaborated on the details of the medication. "The cups must be small. The doses must be administered once a day. These are very powerful doses."

"And, side effects?" Craig asked.

"He will feel numb in his throat and on his blisters for the rest of the week." The medicine man replied.

"But, there is no fatalities in using it?" Dina asked.

"None." The medicine man replied. 

Craig nodded toward Dina then she took the handful into her hands. Craig took out a small zip bag then the contents of the medicine were dropped inside. The duo turned away then departed from the village leaving it behind full of relief. Craig only found himself thankful that there wasn't any mishaps about what had happened today after using the blender.

And he became certain the next leg of the trip was going to be bearable. 


	5. Heat

In a little of ten days, Smith was up on his feet and his aging blue eyes were wide open and loud -- in many ways, demanding to be seen and to have seen injustices -- scanning the terrain that the group had landed upon the neighboring planet of what they had felt they had to have been on for less than a week. They hadn't quite spent a week on the neighboring planet but mainly half a month on it while Smith recovered.

The planet was heated outside just as the residential deck belonged to the shuttle.

"The heat is unbearable in the Jupiter 2!"

"Try to live with it, Doctor Smith." Was the advise of the commander as he fanned himself with a fan as he leaned back into the seat beneath the shade. "It is all that we got for the time being."

Smith's hands were then planted on the side of his waist, bewildered.

"What happened to the temperature gauge?" Smith asked.

"We had to sacrifice cargo bay for a freezer, Doctor Smith." Dina replied as she sat across from him. "The residential deck and the bridge really didn't need any temperature controls."

"Just how much meat did you have to harvest from the planet, Commander?" Smith folded his arms as he squinted upon the young man. "Now don't tell me it was just fruit and vegetables and wheat!"

"It was a lot of meat." Craig replied. "Dina and I have been talking about changing the whole greenery decorating the ship."

"And?"

"We are going to change it over to a improvised hydroponics bay in the second cargo bay." Craig replied. "Which means the bridge will also have to lose the temperature setter."

"I am going to find a nice and cold deep cave and relax in there until it gets better out here!"

"Doctor Smith, that is going to take a entire month." Craig started to reply, calmly, keeping his composure as his eyes met the older man. "We are only here to stretch our legs."

"You weren't the one bound to a _bed_ for a week, Commander."

Smith reminded as he hissing back and stood up from the table. The doctor crumbled what was left of his breakfast to the ground then turned away and walked on from the tent tugging his sleeves down and slid down his uniform as he went on for the distance. Robon twirled from side to side then started to follow the older man.

"Doctor--" Link started to get up from the table.

"Let him go, Link." Craig warned as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder and set him back down. "He is irritable, sweaty, and unhappy."

"Is he going to be happier after this?" Link asked.

Link shifted his attention on toward Craig.

"I can't say that Doctor Smith will be after returning to the ship." Craig grimaced, unsure, looking on toward Smith's figure that became distant.

"It will be awfully cold in there once we get back into space." Dina reminded the commander and the young boy. "He will be miserable."

"We will _all_ be miserable." Link agreed with a grimace. "I don't like being cold all day."

"If we could find a ship with the appropriate temperature control equipment then we won't need to be covered in frost bite for weeks or need to fight it with Robon's help." Craig said then frowned as he rubbed along his chin giving it some thought. "We haven't seen any kind of crafts so far."

"It doesn't hurt to try." Dina suggested, helpfully.

"It doesn't." Craig agreed with a small nod then straightened up in the chair. "Link, we could use your help on this."

"Really?" Link asked with widened eyes.

"Uh huh, your own adventure with us." Craig grinned, broadly, to his little brother as he patted on Link's shoulder.

"That is awesome!" Link exclaimed. "This sure beats fishing."

Craig nodded in return to his brother's comment.

"It sure does." Craig said. "It sure does. . . We will do our exploring after breakfast and take the bug with us."

The group nodded with the time decided of when they were going to begin their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited the line "It really didn't need any temperature controls." to what it is now because I wrote the line prior to it indicating that IT NEEDED temperature controls. oops.


	6. throw in some spice

Craig drove through the terrain in the bug that had cool temperature circulating through it. Craig found himself quite thankful that the bug's roof was designed to absorb the energy through the very faint black rectangle stripes that decorated the roof instead of having a motor engine that needed oil to run. It was one of many parts that made him thankful that Earth had moved so far with the solar panel issues when his mother was growing up after the colonization of Alpha Centauri.

It had been hours since they first drove through the terrain after breakfast and had some meals between with Robon alerted with a communication to the Jupiter 2, discovering that he had returned to retrieve the older man the required ration, about their whereabouts. The crew were relieved to hear of the machine being well including the older man being in better condition with Robon as some form of company.

Link suspected that the older man was miserable when the machine wasn't around but would never admit it around Robon. It was also relieving for Craig knowing that one of his passengers wasn't being in harms way and having it better off than they were. In truth, Craig saw the people around him as his passengers instead of a crew. 

It hadn't hit him yet that they were on a long term _mission_ instead of a very long flight.

* * *

"Craig, why do shuttles have bugs for?" Dina asked with her arms folded.

"The Jupiter line acts as a taxi program." Craig replied. "This was started in the year 2020 after flights to planet were reduced from years to months to weeks to days." He lifted a brow back at Dina. "Why do you ask? You know that."

"It is too quiet in here." Was all Dina said.

Craig looked toward Dina with some sympathy.

"Like me to turn on the radio?" Craig asked.

"No." Dina replied with a shake of her head. "I tried that a few days ago and it only disturbed me."

"How about we do a sing along?" Link suggested. 

"That is a good idea, Link." Craig said with a short lived nod. "Anyone got a idea of a space song?"

"Space, THE FINAL FRONT---"

"No." Craig and Link rejected the song in unison.

"You're no fun." Dina folded her arms and stuck her tongue out toward the men then reached her tongue back inside turning her head away.

"I got a idea!" Craig exclaimed.

"What was it?" Link asked.

"We're so deeply lost, that we don't know, which way is our way home, or away from it," Craig sang.

"At least we got ourselves some blazers," Link sang.

"We got ourselves a Robon," Dina added.

"And a doctor to stitch us back together," Craig chimed in.

"Yeah yeah, yeah!" The group sang together.

"Sing it!" Craig requested.

"We're so deeply lost!" Link sang.

"That we don't know--" Craig was cut off by the duo.

"Which way is our way home!" the duo sang over him.

"So we don't know which way is home," Link continued.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dina sag.

"But we're trying our best to survive," Craig sang.

"In the final frontier!" The group sang at once.

"We're living in space," Craig's bass voice sang on.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dina sang.

"Together, together, together." Link sang.

"Searching how to best adapt into this existence," Dina sang on. "And become accustomed to it."

"We're trying our best to become space colonists," Link continued on singing. "We may falter."

"But, we'll not give up." Dina's beautiful voice rang on.

"We may falter but we will survive the final frontier before it survives us!" Craig sang.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" The trio sang and laughed.

"Let's do that again!" Dina cried.

* * *

The passengers departed from the bug and decided to stretch their legs a hour after they started the singing routine. They took sips from cups of rationed water under the sun to rejuvenate themselves on their break The bug had been full of humming when it paused and the mood was lighter than it had been in recent hours. The group looked about the area then Dina stepped back and pointed on.

"Craig!"

Dina covered her mouth.

"What is--" Craig paused. "Is that a wizard statue?"

"A wizard statue!" Link exclaimed as he stared up toward the statue with awe in his eyes. "And a ship!"

Craig was the first member of the passengers to walk on putting a hand on Link's shoulder.

"Stay back, Link." Craig requested. "Dina and I will check it out."

"What do I do in the mean time?" Link asked.

"You could man the shop for starters and protect it with your wits." Craig said.

"I will." Link nodded in return to Craig.

Link returned into the bug and watched as the couple went inside of the ship then returned out of it and began to make a slow walk toward the distance ahead with their blazers in their hands. Dina had her eyes peered out for the surroundings making sure they weren't being surrounded, followed, or in the path of a alien running toward them. They became a distant figure to him entering the ship then departing and went on further among the heated landscape.

Link sat there waiting for the passengers to return then lowered his head with his arms folded. He settled there for a few moments then moved to the back of the seat and adjusted the seat controls. The chair flipped back and remained that way. Link put his arm over his eyes and fell asleep with his lone right arm dangled off the edge of the chair. Link was fast asleep in the bug.

* * *

Link remained there for quite some time under the comforting dark. However long later, Link came back to the surface fully rested and fell out of the chair landing to the floor with a thud. The young boy got back up to his feet, adjusted the seat, settling it down to the way that it had once been. He moved out of the bug observing that the group hadn't returned and it had became increasingly dark outside of the bug. He returned into the bug and fetched out a blazer hearing the sound of rocks being displaced and heavy footsteps headed his way over the terrain. 

He adjusted the device so that it became a flashlight with a simple change of a button and aimed it up then turned in the direction of the noise. The light crashed on to the face of the newcomer then Smith's familiar wail and his own filled the air as they jumped back. The older man leaned against the bug and Robon patted on Smith's back quite gently.

"My eeeeeyyyes!" Smith wailed as he flailed away from the machine shielding his eyes. "MY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYEEEEEEESSS!"

"Sorry, Doctor Smith." Link apologized to the older man as he lowered his modified blazer. "I didn't expect you to come out of your cave at night!"

"It got hot down there, my boy." Smith folded his arms. "And also, it's much cooler under the dark."

"Negative." Robon replied. "Doctor Smith walked into a wall of bats and was promptly frightened."

"You deceiving fraudulent loyal backstabbing dunce---"

"Doctor Smith, did you bring a blazer?"

"Of course!" Smith took out his own.

"Okay, I'll modify it." Link made the modification. "And here."

"Why thank you, my dear boy." Smith replied---and Link looked up, somewhat caught off guard by the change in how the man referred to him, seeing it as quite surreal-- staring at the older man. "Where did they go?"

"Uh, this way!" Link pointed his flashlight on in the direction that the duo had gone. "This way!"

"Alright then, let us discover what is keeping them up." Smith said then gestured toward Robon. "Robon, why don't you be a dear and be our wall? We shed light, you fire."

"Right this way." Robon said then wheeled on ahead of them.

"Wait for me!" Link cried.

"Come along, my dear boy!" Smith called. "We are going to camp out in the tunnel after this charade and I am going to use my best argument against the commander's lousy arguments."

"I don't think a cavern is good at preserving food compared to a shuttle." Link noted and the older man grimaced.

"Affirmative. It is not." Robon twirled toward the young boy as Link's attention shifted toward the machine's orange tinted helm that had blue lights illuminating within it. "Ancient civilizations practiced burying their food in boxes for later storage, film was hidden in salt mines prior to the space age, and excessive honey is still kept to this day in mines within containers."

"I mean, I don't mean to imply staying in the caverns all day long--only for the night." Smith amended.

"That plan sounds really good, Doctor Smith." Link said.

"Which means if we spend roughly three to four hours in the cave system under the most heated seasons, we should be capable of standing the weather of planets with this kind of weather for the foreseeable future, my dear boy." Smith recommended.

"My dear boy, huh." Link replied as they walked on.

"Hmm. . . ." Smith played with his two fingers in his lap looking down upon Link. "What about it?"

"First time that you have called me other than my boy is all." Mark said. "My dad's dad called me that and so did several of my uncles. I was starting to think it was a Murkrow thing."

Smith shifted his gaze off Link, puckering his lips, looking aside giving it some careful thought.

"I have come to realize with my time in the cavern that we're on a very long mission instead of a flight." Smith admitted as his blue aging eyes lowered upon the boy then put his hand on Link's shoulder. "And the people that I need are the people that I am stuck with." He folded his arms as he wearily scanned the surroundings of the planet they were lurking on. "So, that means, they are dear to me."

"I can get used to that." Link admitted. "The flight home can't be all that bad with someone like you around."

"Oh, it shall be! It shall be!" Smith grinned looking upon the boy with a short-lived nod. "It will be fun. Now, which way did they go?"

"They went this way." Link pointed on.

"Ah, the direction that we were already heading. . ." Smith looked aside. "What about the craft in the distance? Do they hold any meaning?"

"No, not really. A bunch of people live there and it is late so we should try following the direction they went."

"Hm, I wouldn't want to be so rudely awaken from my sleep as well." Smith looked from side to side. "Robon, continue on until the boy says not to."

* * *

Dina and Craig were immobilized where they stood in the center of the abandoned ship that turned out not to be as quite abandoned as they had believed so little ago. Craig's hands were set alongside the pocket reaching for the blazer that never quite got reached. He stared at the view screen displaying Smith and Link arrive to the same place as they were.

"More thieves!" The owner of the abandoned craft shouted. "I will freeze them forever."

Every being in Craig's body wanted him to scream in protest and he could only got a soft groan of 'No' out.

"Send out the freezers."

The tall gray machines that resembled 20th century trash cans from history books wheeled out with their lids floating up and down.

"You, you, you," the owner started at the duo. "You will suffer the consequence of trespassing through private property!"

The owner's bony finger jabbed into the commander's chest as sweat came down his skin.

Craig was having a _really_ bad day.

* * *

"Doctor Smith, it's flying trash cans!" Link announced.

Smith fell terrified at the moving objects.

"No! It can't be!" Smith cried as his face started to twist. "It mustn't be! Trash cans can't fly!"

"But, they are!" Link said. "How in the world are they doing that?"

Smith proceeded to run taking the boy's hand as he ran off into the distance away from the creatures.

"Run, my dear boy!" Smith announced. "Run! Run!"

"I am running!" Link replied, running on ahead of him.

Smith let go of the boy's hand then shoved him forward.

"Run faster!" Smith looked over then his eyes widened and his gaze shifted off from what was behind him.

"If I go any faster---"

"Don't look back!" the older man snapped as the machines were shooting at them. "Don't look back! Don't look back! Don't look back! Go to the Jupiter 2, my boy! Go to the Jupiter 2!"

Smith shoved the boy further away from him as he shouted frantically.

"RUN, RUN, RUN, MY DEAR BOY!"

Link turned his attention to what was ahead of him as he heard the sound of the man's requests continue. The older man's words echoed in his mind repeatedly as he searched for safety then found a distant curved ridge up ahead of them. Link sprinted on and on leaving Smith behind. He was running under the night still hearing the man's cries echoing over and over.

Eventually, the boy made it to the Jupiter 2 and went inside. He closed the door behind him and went to his cabin. He panted once he crashed into the room landing on to the bed and clenched on to the bed sheets. His heart was still pounding against his chest as he regained his bearings. Then, Link passed out on the bed and his figure relaxed.

* * *

Away from danger, away from everyone, in the vicinity of heat; Smith was sweating.

Everything was better off than it could have gone but it had became the worst case possible.

And there was nothing that could stop it from ending with little more than a wave withdrawing hair.

Not a shout, not a scream, not a plead could make it the even more better and exceptionable.

Smith's heart broke into a million pieces in his chest and fell even further into the dark.

* * *

Link awoke to the distinctive hot temperature in the ship. He went to the lower decks and waited to cool down. The old man proceeded not to join him. He must be in the caverns by now. He shook his head and waited for a few hours before he had the guts to go out then get a packaged ration. He traveled from deck to deck as the silence of the ship hit him. He looked around noticing Robon wasn't there. 

Link finished chewing his meal then made a run for it for the nearest cavern system. He slipped down the mouth of the cavern and proceeded to search for the older man wandering for hours at a time searching for the man's campsite. He found the man's campsite completely in tact surrounded by bat droppings. He searched the cavern calling out for him.

"Doctor Smith? Doctor Smith! Doctor Smith! I am here! I made it out!"

Smith didn't return his calls.

"Doctor Smith, where are you?"

* * *

Link retraced his last steps with the older man after searching for hours in the cave system and arrived to the area where he had last left the bug. He froze spotting Smith on the ground completely outlined by blue energy. And Robon was across from Smith right behind them frozen in place leaning forward in the middle of running. Link returned to the bug then took out a umbrella and made a run for the older man.

"Doctor Smith!" Link came over to his side then stabbed the umbrella into the ground. "Can you hear me? Are you okay? Talk to me, please!"

Link reached his hand out toward the blue field surrounding him then was thrown across from him.

"Ow!" Link got back up to his feet then returned to the older man. "Doctor Smith?"

Link knelt down.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Link plead to the older man. "They're gone. The flying trash cans are gone."

Link returned to the bug then took out another umbrella and set it alongside the other umbrella to keep him shaded.

"It's going to be okay," Link said then closed his eyes with a tremble as he shook his head. _Nothing is okay._ "I am scared, too."

Link loomed over the fallen then reached his hand but paused, his hand closed, clearing his throat.

"I am going to fix this." Link vowed then got up to his feet as a tear came from one of Smith's closed eyes. "I promise."

Link looked on toward the mountain of rock which the flying trash cans came from.

"I'll fix this."

* * *

The machines came out of the entrance roughly two hours later then they proceeded to fire at him so Link fired back knocking them aside. He picked up a lid of the trash can and used it as his shield as he walked on into the opening to the cave. It was a slow but deliberate walk with wary and caution that belonged to someone more experienced than a child. He fired at the alien that fired at him with a strange contraption and he ducked behind a panel.

"Craig! Dina!" He looked over spotting Dina and Craig were immobilized by the same force. "Oh no."

The alien cried, "Intruder!" and the machines beside him fired at the boy.

 _Think, think, think, think, think---_ His eyes widened as he looked toward the trash can lid then stepped in the air, boldly, spinning the trash can lid. The lid reflected the shot coming from two of the freezing machines and directly flew back at the group across from him and one blast hit the alien. A previously made shot from the alien crashed upon the side of Link's head knocking him back then Craig's hand started to move and his facial features changed to alarm.

The effect that trapped Dina and Craig let go of them as they surrounded by the injured but unresponsive boy.

"Link." Craig said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Link?"

"Scrapnel?" Dina suggested. "The side of his temple is bleeding."

"Dina, find medical equipment for him, now!" Craig snapped.

Dina got back up to her feet then proceeded to search for medical equipment over the shrieking of the person who had caused the problem in the first place was unable to move where he stood.

"Link, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! _Please_."

Her hands crashed upon a white object with a handle then returned to Craig's side and hovered it above the boy's forehead.

"Let's hope this is amendable." Dina said.

Dina pressed a button then saw the specific injury that was dug into the side of the boy's head. The young woman gasped, silently, looking upon the young boy. Dina looked toward Craig then he looked on toward the screen. It was silent between the duo and the fact was clear between them regarding Link's condition. Dina was trembling where she sat alongside the young boy then looked up toward Craig.

"He needs a doctor." Craig observed.

"Doctor Smith was frozen by the same machines that we were." Dina said.

"I will get him!" Craig got up to his feet then ran out of the cave.

"Com back, quickly." Dina said to thin air.

Dina looked on toward the view screen and watched as the man went toward the fallen figure. She watched as the man was thrown back by the sudden discharge then try again and again to get him up. She turned her attention away as she turned the device off and reached her fingers toward the wound. The wound was severe and meticulous to remove. It needed all the medical equipment, a sterile room, and a confident operator. _I am none of those things._ She withdrew her hand and hung her head.

Craig returned to the cavern then approached the alien responsible for his brother's fate. Carefully, he yanked out the weapon then approached Link's side. He fell down by Link's shoulder and admired the weapon comparing it to the blazer. The weapon that posed significant harm to the boy was primitive but yet so advanced compared to the Earthly gun but less advanced than the blazer. It was silent apart to the screaming of the trapped person across from them.

Craig got up to his feet then started to throw things aside searching for medical tools as Dina lowered her head, full of gloom, her hands on the boy's unconscious hands. Craig delivered punches into the panel then charged at the stranger but was thrown aside from the electrical blast. He charged again, again, again, and again, then charged with one final scream toward the alien being. Craig was thrown against the wall by the electromagnetic charge. 

Craig propped himself up with a tremble then staggered out of the cavern feeling sick inside, his skin burning, and everything around felt as though it were ready to erupt at any moment. He felt slightly uneasy as though in the middle of a horrible natural disaster that was about to strike the planet then destroy everything that he held dear. Everything didn't feel real as the reality sunk in that he was far from home with a skeleton crew. His passengers were a crew, a team, instead of strangers who shared the same space for a couple of hours.

He came out back then let it all out. He erupted right then and there. It came out as a long agonized scream with his hands rolled into fists and his scream echoed. He kicked at rocks even picked them up then threw them on, punched into the wall of rock, tore down pieces of rock from the wall and punched a hole in some of the wall material. Craig fell down to his feet as he proceeded to cry as he hunched over as his hands fell to the ground lowering his head. He wept, loudly, his hands lifting up to the ground as did his arms. His arms wrapped around his shoulders once he were standing on his feet.

After a long and lengthy moment to himself, Craig got up renewed and no longer with the husk of someone who believed they were going to reach Earth in the next few months but someday in the distant future. He stood up with a tremble to his feet using the nearby rock as his support. He leaned against the doorway to the cavern quite distant to everyone around him.

He picked up the trash cans one by one then proceeded to peer into one of them. Craig tipped one of the machines upside down sending the circuits out of the container as Dina broke apart clenching on to the stained green uniform and water fell from her baby blue eyes as she wept. 

He moved wires to different pieces of the board and made sure they stick after modifying the blazer aiming it at the small pieces of the console then carefully put away into the machine. He flipped it and then watched. He watched as the machine fired aiming at the young boy and miss. He slipped a hand into his pocket and took out a small glowing diamond reminder, hooked it up, then aimed at the young boy. The boy became encased by a film of ice. He dropped the device then came over to Dina and put a hand on her shoulder then squeezed it. Dina ceased to cry then looked up toward him with watery eyes.

"Dina, this freezing status isn't going to last long . . . We have to act quickly and find a way to unfreeze Doctor Smith."


	7. Thrown in some love

The second floating trash can was disassembled with care and set into neat piles with a written number in what order they had to be taken apart from. Without Robon to aid them in the effort, the duo were walking in blind grasping at straws moving cords and circuits to different panels in desperate bids to awaken the older man. The older man remained on the ground untouched by time itself with little signs of sweating under the umbrella as the hours waned by for the duo collectively trying to bring to break Smith out of the semi-freezing status.

Craig shattered before her eyes kicking into the silver machine in a fit of rage after several attempts that failed and roared in ways that she hadn't seen from a man. He stomped, crushed, and tore it into pieces until his hands were bleeding as she came over to his side then landed a hand on his shoulder as he sobbed. His figure was trembling as he sat there hunched over the figure of the man that was part of his crew. His responsibility, if he had only argued---

"Dina,"

"Yes?"

"We're taking their heat controls."

"How are we going to do that when we know little of their technology?"

"Well, if we can get Robon. . . . Damn it, we don't even know how to get him unstuck." He kicked at the can. "I hate not knowing! I hate this! I HATE THIS!"

He kicked away the last of the space trash can then set his hands on his knees.

"What are we going to do about Link?"

Craig folded his arms, lowering his head, then sighed.

"We don't have a bible, I don't even know the bible like the back of my head, we don't have shovels, we just have equipment recently made for taking care of the processing for making bread, sugar, cereal, and seeds for the chickens." He paced back and forth rubbing the back of his neck. "I. . I. . I don't know what to do!"

The commander of the Jupiter 2 threw his hands into the air.

"I can't give him a proper burial! To be known that he existed---that he died as a little boy stranded from Earth!"

The static surrounding Smith vanished with a pop then the professor from Earth University leaped up to his feet and made a run for the cavern passing by the duo. Their eyes flashed open then proceeded to chase after the older man into the cavern and found him trembling picking up a medical equipment then scan the boy's forehead. The shriek that came from him was enough to make Dina's heart leap as he looked up toward the man quite disgruntled. He charged after the owner of the cavern then raised his hand and attempted to slap the alien being. Smith was flung against the room then started to get up to his feet and charged after him.

"Zachary, stop!"

Craig and Dina stood in the way halting the man in his tracks.

"Let me go! That vile creature shot a child!" Smith roared. "A CHILD!"

"No! We can't do that!" Dina exclaimed in response to the older man. "If you do that then you are only going to get hurt!"

"And trust me, Zachary, it will hurt if you do that repeatedly." Craig said.

Smith stopped trying to resist against their blockade then sighed.

"How about we leave him to die in the sun for firing at a ten year old?" Smith asked.

"He is nearly eleven." Dina reminded.

"How about we leave him to die in the sun for firing a child?" Smith amended.

"I don't trust that kind of person with a weapon." Dina said. "But, that would be wrong."

"Imagine what he would do for a six year old wandering in." Craig's demeanor darkened at the doctor's comment. "Strikes me as the person who shoots at intruder _no matter_ their age. A life is a far precious thing, my dear commander."

"We can be the jury," Dina said. "If that makes what we do feel right."

"The prosecution will be our feelings on the matter." Smith said.

"Defense will be God, then." Craig said.

"God can't speak." Dina reminded Craig.

"Life then?" Smith lifted a brow.

"God is a very forgiving person." Craig insisted.

Smith and Dina looked toward Craig with bewildered expressions.

"Then why does Hell exist if he is a very forgiving person?" Dina asked.

Craig gave it some thought then nodded to himself.

"That is for those who believe in their soul they deserve to be punished." Craig said.

Their eyes widened then they grinned.

"It's the heart that helped me out." Smith said. "If this stranger cares then perhaps he can be freed."

"He is his own judge." Dina noted then smiled. "His own jury, his own defense, his own prosecution."

"Do we leave him outside or in this cavern where he could starve to death?" Craig asked.

The group were silent as they mulled it over.

"I did sweat." Smith said. "If he truly loves himself then he will force himself to break free of it."

"That's it in general." Dina said. "Love." She squinted her attention on to the commander. "Why didn't you break free of it it meant came down to it?"

"I wasn't starving. Truly! My stomach is a matter I love to care for dearly!"

Dina laughed and the commander of the ship rolled his eyes in bemusement with his hands on his hips then the captain's eyes flashed open. 

"We have to get Robon awake!" Craig said.

"Get the ninny and have him report to me, please." Smith said.

Craig bolted out of the cavern making a run for the machine.

"ROBON!" Craig called. "Robon! Robon! We need your help! It's about Craig, we need you to help Doctor Smith identify equipment capable of being used as medical equipment."

With a loud static pop, the effects on Robot ceased to operate and he whirred toward the commander.

"Reporting to duty, Commander." Robon reported.

"This way." Craig said.

Robon and Craig returned to the cavern then Robon snatched off four sets of square devices off the wall.

"Robon, what are you doing with that equipment?" Dina asked. 

"Temperature gauge is necessary for the continued flight of the Jupiter 2." Robon tossed the equipment to Dina who caught them one at a time. "Surgical equipment is in this storage container."

Robon came over to the box then electrocuted it and backed away. All four sides of the box fell back with a unanimous thud. Smith trudged over to the equipment with a frown then his face beamed up spotting all the necessary equipment to having a operation with the boy heated up. Smith beckoned Dina to gather the equipment with a hand. With little noise from Smith in protest or acceptance, they were able to gather the material and assemble it into the bug.

A modified bed was set up in the bug and then they drove off from the scene as hot air was blasting into the room. Smith hooked up the boy to the medical equipment and was given what he asked with Robon's assistance. Smith patted away at the partially unfrozen blood with the recyclable puffy filling as Dina tended to the swear on him with her handkerchief as he wore a face mask that had been generated at short notice by Robon including a sneeze guard. Smith operated on the wound along the side of the boy's head as the tension carried in the air as a section of the bug was tapered off from the commander.

With faith in his abilities and certain care in the boy, Smith was calm and composed during the operation removing the shrapnel from the boy's head and dumping it into the offered case by Dina over the bumps in the road. Every so often, when they went over a bump, it would make Dina pause with a slight hop in terror and close her eyes, wincing, terrified at the sudden explosion rocketing their world on the way to safety. Smith slipped off his gloves then put a hand on her shoulder and lowered it down to her hand and gave it a squeeze. She looked toward the doctor.

 _I'm scared, too._ His aged blue eyes seemed to say. _Hold my hand? I can spare a hand._

Dina smiled as she began to form herself a new professional composure made by space with the help of a kind hand.


	8. Chit chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dina has had her own chapter, Craig has had his own chapter, Smith had his own chapter, Link has had his own chapter, and I am not sure about Robon. Robon hasn't had his own chapter. Some of these chapters are going about focusing on members of the crew.

Link was operated on with care on the way back to the Jupiter 2 and he was under sedation when they returned to the ship, his head stitched back up, the newly gained equipment packed in the back of the bug that was driven underneath the ship back inside. Carefully, Craig picked up Link into his arms and went to the upper decks. Robon generated wipes then Smith wiped his hands slowly as he sat in his chair with minimal rest. Dina was the second member of the crew to enter the Jupiter 2. 

Smith handed the wipes back and Robon degenerated them away as the older man sighed.

"I will see you in the morning."

"Good night, Robon." Smith replied.

"Good night, Professor Smith." Robon said.

Robon went down the platform.

"Robon."

Robon twirled toward Smith, who's head was bobbed up appearing vulnerable and heartbroken, facing him.

"Yes?"

"Never call me that again until we reach Earth." Smith said. 

"You have insisted I referred to you as my better." Robon replied as his helm twirled. "This does not compute."

Smith's lips puckered -- if only briefly -- then relaxed.

"I am not actively employed as I am currently seen as quite dead by the general public." Smith explained, softly, yet sincerely. "Lost at sea, death by space, both of which are presumptuous when a craft has been lost into two specific unknowns of two different places."

"You prefer not to be reminded that you are valued back at Earth university." Robon acknowledged. 

"Professor Smith is the title that belongs in civilization and in a institution with young sponge minds."

Smith closed his eyes as he nodded. It was a discard of the person that used to live on Earth. Now, he had to best become the person that could survive in space. Educational titles meant very little to the essential titles that mattered in environments such as these. Smith opened his eyes letting go of that difficult breath facing the purple tin plated machine.

The orange helm bobbed down.

"Aff-irmaaa-tive." Robon said.

Smith waved him off.

"Now, go." Smith ordered.

His hands lowered down to his lap as he lowered his head. They had been so _close_ to a bleak and depressing existence. So utterly and painfully close to surrendering to space and losing the other in terrible fashions. The memory of it all frightened him that it had really happened at all. Like Dina, he was used to watching events like these transpire on the holographic screen emitting from the holoprojector. 

But, they had prevailed at the end of the day instead of being sent down the path that meant certain distress, horror, dismay, and slow death. That was far more depressing if the Robinsons had been lost and never reached Alpha Centauri. It was also a surprise to have avoided the significant arm of what was in store for the crew ahead of them in the dark. But so far, they were the light and the dark was yowling back as they rushed their way to the place that kept the hope burning alive with significant chances of cutting down months worth of travels to days or weeks with the power pods. They wouldn't spend decades at a time searching for their solar system. 

_If it had been the first colonists of Alpha Centauri. . ._ Smith rationalized. _Then there wouldn't be a self-made orphan with only two strangers, a machine, and his brother to act as his family._ So long ago, the idea of being part of a family was deemed quite impossible. The Smith fortune would have brought out the worst in the people that he would have called lovers and potential partners--that assessment had been readily proven right so many times. And yet, these people discarded riches as though it were trash to them.

_Perhaps, I can let them into my heart as family. Not just as people I care about._

They had won this battle against space.

They weren't going to let space trample over them if they fought against it with all their might.

With that he raised his head, hopped out of the bug and closed the door behind him then made his way to the residential deck with a hum.


	9. Let it rest

It was morning when the crew of the Jupiter 2 awoke from their rest. Smith was the first to go into the cabin of the young boy, the sound of the door opening drew the commander and brought his presence in the doorway of the boy's cabin. The boy hadn't awakened yet from the extensive surgery in repairing the damage that had been left by the space lead.

Craig leaned against the frame of the doorway as the older man checked his temperature while Robon remained by the boy's side. Smith's eyes rested on the young boy's features and his hands watching for movement then his lips fell into a grimace at something displeasing. The older man sighed then shifted his attention toward the waiting commander. With that, Smith was up to his feet approaching the younger man.

"Doctor Smith, what kind of recovery does he need to expect?"

"The right side of his body needs to relearn how to move." Smith replied. 

"So, how long does that take?" Craig asked. 

Smith looked back inside the cabin then shifted his attention back on to the captain.

"He is young. He is resilient. He may recover in hours or days." Smith promised the younger man. "He can bounce back from this."

Craig sighed, relieved.

"When do we do joint therapy?" Craig asked.

Smith's face beamed as his eyes lit up.

"Soon as he is able and well rested." Smith said. "He should be awake tomorrow morning and talking by the latest."

Craig grinned, broadly, feeling the neurons in his brain were bouncing around everywhere.

"We will be back in space in a hour." Craig promised.

Smith shifted his attention on to the younger man then nodded.

"It would be best if we rested on this planet for a little more." Smith advised to the captain then pointed in toward the cabin of the ten year old. "Don't want to let the boy be unaware that we left the planet while he was out. If he is to be part of this journey then he must be awake."

Craig looked aside thinking it over for a solid moment then nodded.

"I'll come over after breakfast and wait for him to wake up. Soon could happen any time." Craig said as Smith lifted his head up listening to the younger man. "Good morning, Doctor Smith."

And Smith smiled.

"Good morning to you, Commander." Smith replied watching the commander depart.

Smith returned into the cabin and sat down in the chair that was left over from the night before and waited.


	10. Use the ingrediants

"Dina, it is high time that you learn how to make a cake."

Dina raised her attention up from her meal and her brows raised at once.

"For what purpose, Doctor Smith?" Dina asked.

"It is for Link's birthday . . ." then Smith smiled in return. "He _is_ turning eleven after all."

"Eleven year olds get icing on their cakes." Dina said, woefully.

"Then my dear, it's time we go harvesting for wild berries, freeze them, heat them up, and decorate the cake with that."

"As topping?" Dina said. "I haven't tried that before."

"Neither have I." Smith admitted.

"But it's a first." Dina said.

"Indeed, it is." Smith said. "Let's go to the ration cargo and see what we can use."

The duo departed returned to the Jupiter 2 then walked up the ramp into the ship. Dina followed the older room into the cargo room that had been refitted as a storage area for the increased rations that they had assembled with boxes labeled as 'food storage' lining the walls. Smith eyed the equipment then smiled at his findings and shifted toward the younger woman.

"Dina, please check if we have several bowls, a measuring cup, a mixer, a cake dish, and two round pans."

"Doctor Smith, what is a mixer?"

"Have you seen two beaters before?"

Dina shrugged with a shake of her head.

"No."

Smith frowned as his brows furrowed then sighed.

"They are two long metal equipment with a white handle and gray beams that make a bone shape at the end." Smith outlined the general shape of the material with a finger so Dina could get a rough idea of what to expect. Dina nodded along to what he had to say. "You attach them to the machine that they will be in. They should be with the mixer."

"Okay."

"Please check the kitchen."

"That should be easy!"

Dina went to the kitchen then slid out the equipment from the cabinets and drawer as Smith took out the packaging with the rations in them. Several bowls were set out on the counter including the mixer and the silver beater. She returned to the older man with a large bowl in hand including the much smaller bowls.

At the sight of the kitchen equipment, Smith's face became lightened up by his aging grin. Dina set the bowl on to one of the food storage boxes then Smith carefully placed the stored ingredients into the bowls. He stacked them neatly into the silver bowl and set them into Dina's arms taking along the beater equipment.

"This way!" Smith turned away with the beaters in his hand.

"Coming, Doctor Smith." Dina said.

They moved out of the cargo bay into the kitchen with a brisk walk. Smith put the beaters on to the table underneath the tent Dina looked at him, confused, then followed him with the box in hand. Dina put the large bowl beside the beaters then returned into the ship. Moments later, she returned with the two pans and set them alongside the equipment.

Smith put down the equipment on to the table then pressed a few buttons here and there then wheeled the table out into the open much to Dina's confusion. He took the small bowls out of the silver bowl and set them alongside it in a neatly ordered line. Smith returned to the tent then sat down where he folded his arms.

"Why are we waiting?" Dina asked.

Smith lifted his head up.

"We need to wait a hour for the solar battery to be charged for the beaters."

* * *

Craig was on the side of the planet that was experiencing night with Robon by his side. It had taken roughly eight hours to get to this side of the planet in order to chart the constellation that were apparent to him. Beside Craig was a large space telescope with a fresh star chart on it. Robon was on guard as he wheeled back and forth keeping his advanced sensors out for the younger man's protection.

Craig was able to spot by the large telescope that they were in a solar system with eight planets, five of them were in the habitation zone while the other planets were gas planets in nature, three of the planets had rings around them except for the planet that they were on, two of them were missing chunks of them from a star war that had plagued the solar systems. He was able to assemble numbers of star charts for the journey ahead of them. He sat down into the nearest chair in winter gear as he looked up toward the sky.

"I will bring Link home, grandpa, grandma."

Craig lifted his gaze up searching in the sky for Earth.

"I will."

Craig nodded to himself.

"I promise." 

It was more of a vow.

"I am working on it." he clasped his hands together. "Just don't give up on the idea that we're trying to get home."

* * *

Within the hour the machines were beeping so loudly that it drew the cooks of the meal out of the Jupiter 2 to the wailing of the machines. Smith got up to his feet with Dina by his side then they slid the table back under the tent.

"Dina, pour in two one and a half cups of all purpose flour. I have it set on the table alongside the bowl."

"Oh, it's labeled!" And Dina did as he asked.

"Three teaspoons of baking powder."

"Got it."

"One and one and third cups of sugar."

"One cup then half of a new cup?"

"Yes."

"Got it."

"One and a half of teaspoon salt."

"Got it."

"One and a half butter."

"Done."

"One cup of low fat milk."

"In."

"One teaspoon of vanilla."

Dina poured it in,

"Two eggs."

She dropped in the two eggs.

"No, no, no, my dear doe." Smith protested. "You have to crack them open."

"Ooops." Dina loomed over the bowl and winced at the fallen eggs that had been cushioned by the pile of material gathered in the center of the bowl.

"You are quite new at this so this error can be forgiven and forgotten."

Dina picked up the egg then cracked it against the counter a couple times and dropped the yolk into the interior of the bowl. She did the same for the second egg then tossed the shell of the egg then set it aside. Smith picked up a synthetic napkin then wiped the contents off the table. He slid in the bowl under the beater and pressed a blocky yet transparent button. The beaters proceeded to spin the contents of the cake around in a circle for several minutes at a time.

Smith turned the machine off then gestured toward the pan. With great care, Dina poured the contents of the bowl into the first pan then moved what was still left of the contents into the second pan. She lifted her head up from the man spotting that he had returned with a frozen bag of strawberries and blueberries as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Already time to put in the berries?"

"Already---How absurd!" Smith exclaimed. "The cake isn't caked yet, my dear!"

"Then what are they for?" Dina asked.

Smith grinned turning toward the younger woman.

"To cook out in the sun!" Smith exclaimed.

"Why is that part of the instructions?" Dina asked. "They sound so ancient."

Smith frowned then chopped pieces of a few berries that were notably in the process of melting with a knife. _Chop. Chop. Chop._ The sound of the knife bouncing against the table was loud and definite.

"Not many people do it anymore these days." Smith said, softly.

"Why?" Dina asked.

Smith paused, facing Dina, then smiled.

"The weather wasn't what it used to be." Smith returned his attention upon the berries.

"Tell me about it." Dina said, curious.

Smith dropped in berries at a time into the pans then used the back edge of a spoon to send them sinking in then dropped the other frozen berries into the medium sized bowl that was set close to his arm.

"A long time ago, the atmosphere of Earth was heated from Green House Gas and many other forms of pollution for several years at a time such as methane." Smith gestured toward the clear blue sky with hardly a cloud in sight with a aged hand then dipped his hand slightly down then smiled back as a comforting fact crossed his mind. "That was after we went about colonizing around the solar system and the Alpha Centauri system and the Alpha Proxima and the Kelper System."

Smith withdrew his hand from mid-air. 

"Once we started acting upon the pollution in the late twenty-tens with the Paris Agreement and upheld that, the annoyance went away."

"And it was quickly forgotten." Dina said.

"Not everyone forgot that it happened." Smith replied, quietly. "Not people my age."

"How old are you?" Dina asked.

"Thirty-seven." Smith replied then his somber features were replaced by softened but genuine light facial features on the issue as he faced Dina and she grew confused at his response. "Kidding!" 

Smith laughed, half heart, in amusement in a loud way.

"I was about to say, you look fifty!" Dina laughed. 

His laughter stopped then he looked back at her with his features softened.

"I am _sixty_." Smith said.

Dina became quiet then silently hugged the older man from the side. So, Smith reached out, grasped her shoulder, then clasped it as they stood there. He closed his eyes as he squeezed her shoulder knowing that he were not going to make the return to Earth should the journey take decades. She was so young and he was so old.

He was consoled by the fact that she would see Earth if he didn't survive and the younger members survived as well. Smith was surrounded by youth that had chance of making it in their life time to Earth at possibly his age or beyond his age with that possibility. It broke his heart in two but it was mended by comfort that stringed his broken heart together with each passing moment. It was Dina who backed off the hug after thirty minutes.

"What do we do with the second cake?" Dina asked with a sniffle. 

"The first cake is a treat for ourselves, my dear girl." Smith replied. "It should bake quite well under the heated air of this planet. This planet is so near to the sun that our meal should be ready within the hour."

She looked off toward the sun that looked closer than the sun that orbited Earth.

"It looks so big." Dina wiped the bead of sweat from her forehead.

"Indeed. . . Indeed." Smith replied. "Go to the communication tower and send a voice mail to our dear companions that we will have some left overs waiting for them."

"First try on making a cake has to be good." Dina said.

"We made this with machinery and following the list," Smith replied. "It shall be good."

Dina smiled then ran off and Smith wore a small smile that faded once she were distant to him.

"Lord, let them make the best of this journey when I am gone." Smith whispered to nothingness. " _Please._ "

Then he turned away and began assembling the emptied bowls including measuring cup slowly with a slightly broken heart as he trembled. Then, Smith stopped and silently cried with his head lowered as his hand covered his eyes at what he had thought about his future. He stopped after a hour of this then wiped the tears off his handkerchief and slid it into his pocket once he were done. Smith resumed what he had put a pause on.


	11. Let it bake

"Mom. . . dad. . ."

Link stirred awake.

"Mom. . ."

And his eyes opened as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"No." Smith said, softly. "It is only I, your friendly neighborhood dear doctor."

Link's shoulders fell as he pouted.

"I want to go home." Link said.

"We all do." Smith said, his voice even softer. "But we have to be patient. We have to be defiant. And smart."

"What kind of smart do you mean, Doctor Smith?" Link asked.

"The kind where you use your intelligent noggin to get yourself out of tight spaces." Smith pointed toward the boy's forehead. "My dear boy, you will be even smarter when you return to Earth."

"You really think so?" Link's mouth started to fall.

"The education that you will be getting in space will be different compared to your peers, Link." Smith replied. "And guess what day it is?"

"What day is it?"

"Your birthday!"

"My birthday! It's my birthday, already? But, that isn't for a couple of days!"

"You have had to experience a lot of rest from the operation and being frozen!" Smith exclaimed. "On the other hand there is a very . . ."

"Is that a wheelchair?"

"Why yes, my dear boy. It is."

"What's it for?"

"You. We don't know if we have to use it. . . but, the only way that we can be certain is by you getting up from bed. Can you do it?"

"I can try."

"Try, Link. Try! Try on your own."

Link lifted himself up with his left arm as his right arm fell slack laying there lazily along his side. Smith stepped back then the boy swung his leg to the edge of the bed then plopped down. Link grinned at first then fell landing to the ground with a quiet thud. Smith stifled back a laugh as he looked upon the young boy covering his mouth. He went over to the side then slid up the wheelchair that unfolded with a single press of a button. Smith joined the boy's side and helped him up to his feet then guided him to the wheelchair.

"I can do this." Link insisted. "I know I can!"

"Yes, you can do it very soon with time and patience." Smith's voice became soothing as Link were set into the wheelchair. "We'll try some therapy for the right side of your body for the foreseeable future."

Link looked up toward the older man who was knelt down beside him.

"Are we going to be planet side until then?" Link asked.

Smith bore the shadow of a small smile.

"We will only know that with the commander's decision." Smith lifted himself up with help from the machine beside him. "Would you like to manipulate the wheelchair or would you like me to do that?"

"I am right handed so I need some help. . ." Link said then turned his attention upon Smith with the barest hint of a smile. "Just for a little while."

"Just for a little while." Smith agreed, softly.

Smith came behind the young boy then grasped the hovering wheelchair by the bars and propelled himself forward through the ship into the elevator. The elevator moved them to the kitchen half of the ship then the yellow door slid open. The dark interior of the ship lit up revealing Dina, Craig, and Robon leaping out of their hiding places and shrieked, "Happy Birthday!" as improvised confetti fell down from above the ceiling. Despite the lack of his parents and extended family, this is what he had to make the best of as his family for now.

Link laughed as he was wheeled to the table by the older man. The group slid forward small packages that were neatly kept together by twine from the earlier harvest wheat. He carefully unwrapped the first present then stared in awe and lifted his attention up. 

"Oh, cool!" Link announced. "A---what is this?"

"It's a one wheel." Robon reported.

"A.. . . what?" Link lifted a brow.

"It's a invention made in 2020 to replace the hover board which wasn't a hoverboard at all but a two wheel." Smith said. "It was the primitive version."

"Oh! That sounds like a skateboard." Link said.

"At least that piece of iconic culture remained." Craig said with a laugh.

"Indeed!" Smith agreed with a laugh.

"Is this from you, Doctor Smith?" Link raised a brow

"No." Smith replied, folding his arms, leaning into the chair then motioned his head toward the machine alongside him. "It is the space dunce's gift."

"Thank you, Robon." Link changed his attention toward the purple tin plated machine.

"You are welcome." Robon replied.

"Open your next gift!" Dina beckoned the boy on.

Link tore the present open with his left hand surprisingly little difficulty over the grinning of the adults.

"A blazer!" Link exclaimed.

"You need one on you for now on." Craig said. "You're in space now."

Link looked up toward Craig.

"But, Craig, isn't blazers supposed to be given after a mental evaluation, mental test, a thorough background test, and being your age to own one?"

"This is a essential." Craig said. "A exception."

"Thanks, big brother."

"No problem, little brother."

"Open the next gift, my dear boy." Smith insisted.

Link ripped apart the next gift to find a long rectangle bed of soil with plants in them.

"Oh no." Lin said, knowingly, then lifted his attention up toward the older man who was gleefully grinning. "This is _your_ version of a gift."

"You may not be of age to perform the act of cooking, but, you should be trusted with something in this long voyage." Smith replied. "Taking care of these potatoes is a very strong responsibility."

"Potatoes!" Link asked. "POTATOES?" Smith began to smile as he sipped from his cup of tea. "Why not carrots? Cabbage?"

"It's your introduction to cooking." Dina said then the boy looked toward his brother and the older man who nodded in unison.

"This is a beginner's step." Smith said.

"You will reach the title of chef when you have reached sixteen." Craig said.

"If we end up staying that long in space." Dina reiterated.

"That is our decision." Craig said.

"If you want a proper meal then you must know what is in it and how to make it." Dina continued as she shook her index finger. "When it is your time to cook for us; you will know if you have the necessary materials and if they are ready to be used for the meal."

"My processors indicate that there is a chance that Link will have become skilled in the art of cooking when he is twenty." Robon replied.

"You wish." Link said. "Space is vast and alien cultures are different; I won't be truly the master of cooking." he eyed the three adults at the table then smiled. "I'll be constantly learning."

"The humility in a eleven year old." Smith said as Craig started to smile in pride toward his little brother. "You already sound like a man."

"Don't grow up too quickly!" Craig said.

"I won't," Link assured. "I love the gift. Thank you, Doctor Smith."

"You're very welcome." Smith said with a small smile. 

Link tore open the next gift then spotted a small box and stared down upon it.

"It's my antique camera." Dina said. "Electronic. You're going to need it more than I will documenting space and documenting our time together."

"We are going to document it together, Dina." Link said. "By the time we're out of it, you will be the one teaching and writing about the intracities of other worlds. You will make a great speaker."

"Doesn't matter." Dina said with a laugh. "I have one thing in mind."

"And what is that?" Craig asked.

"Getting to my station and fulfilling my assignment." Dina said, simply.

"Our missions is just getting home after getting to Saturn." Craig said. "Right, kid brother?"

"Right!" Link nodded.

"I shall cut the cake into pieces!" Smith announced, cheerfully.

"What cake?" Craig asked.

Dina lifted the platter up with a grin then set it aside the rounded pan. 

"Strawberry short cake?" Link almost squealed at the topping of melted strawberries. "How did you know!"

"A eleven year old has very specific dreams of cake when in space," Dina said. "Naturally, we had to resort to what we could."

"Which coincidentally was your favorite meal plan." Smith added, happily, slicing sections of the cake.

"So, when do we leave for Earth?" Link asked. 

"After the party." Craig said. "After the party--" He unhid a box of bananas from behind his back as he approached his kid brother then set it on the table. "I found bananas on my way back."

"Bananas? BANANAS!" Link announced then threw himself forward crashing against Craig's chest and hugged him. "You're the best brother to be lost with."

"So are you." Craig returned the hug, closing his eyes, smiling. "So are you."

Dina was the first to join the hug then so was Smith.

"You join the hug, too, Robon." Dina said.

"I am not his brother." Robon replied. "This is a family hug. I am part of the astronavigation model which does not state as a family."

"It's a family," Link said. "You're connected by build an by design to others like you."

"That is very much a family." Craig said.

"Very, indeed!" Smith grasped the machine's arm and yanked him in. 

They all laughed in the family hug.


	12. Enjoy

The next few hours were full of therapy for Link as performed by members of the crew taking turns aiding him in his recovery as the Jupiter 2 was shuttling through space. They exited the system that their journey had began in and they waved it away quite meekly from the windows with Smith's long saddened sigh that was in the background. Link waved his left hand at the system as the window became replaced by darkness. Link slowly retreated to his seat with help from Dina transferring him out of the chair.

The hours after were full of boredom and pacing until Craig came out with a board game. The pacing stopped, the waiting stopped, only the sound of laughter and various voices coming from the bridge of the ship were the only noise that Robon was becoming keenly familiar with as his external systems kept in check with the astroweather system. The next system was precisely twenty-four hours away which was ten hours less when they had started the journey in the first place. Robon detects the boy regains the use of his arms fifteen hours after the flight had started but no one notices not even Link as he acts it is just normal to him. The game went on for a day with long breaks in between.

Robon discovered that his sub-protocols that were being developed and established for the group were working well and desirable for his foreseeable future. They got up, took showers at a time, and ate breakfast at the table together then resumed their game. Robon quickly began to get the rough idea this game wasn't going to end until they got home with their long journey in the dark searching for somewhere that generated light. The Jupiter 2 was a lone shuttle liner seeking for home with people making the best of their situation coming together starting connections with each other.

Robon liked that part. They didn't need bolts, circuits, or delicate fiber optic cables to keep them together. Humans were social creatures and the need to pack bond with others was strong in some members of the human species that thrived with hope, spite, and love. Link awoke them again with another nightmare, screaming that was louder, terrified, scared than before, and he cried into his brother's chest and refused to talk about the contents of the nightmare.

They spent the night in the middle of the residential deck in a pile as Robon had discovered them in the beginning of their journey into the stars. With that knowledge about this group; nothing was going to get in their way getting home with every member alive. Absolutely nothing at all as they struggled and raged and fought. Fondly, Robon thought of this as the Jupiter 2 landed on their new planet. 

He hadn't been programmed to become close to the passengers but as they decided to go on their first geological survey as a team -- a field trip, Link called it -- the machine found himself experiencing a strange feeling being with them. It was unheard for a astronavigation model to develop feelings but for Gunter, the first artificial intelligence to be born and thrive on Gamma, it was completely logical for a environmental machine to become a person around a family and become more secure in his role as their protector.

Robon wasn't meant to become that way as his guard was held up inside the bug as the crew were singing songs at random, merrily, and Link's feet were moving and the singing became cheering. Robon discovered that he liked that. He liked it more as they came to a area of their new planet that was full of towering rocks that Dina dubbed the castle of rock and the group laughed at once.

He liked it when Craig asked if he wanted to come along with him and Dina (which he took) to survey the rock castle. They explored it for a while with some teasing, pranks on the other, even among the tension of being unsure of what was around them, what was underneath them, or what they were inside of. When they came back out, it was Link who jumped out, waving his arms, going "BOOGA BOOGA OOGA!" that made Craig shriek like a little girl and run off back inside.

Robon promptly ran after Craig as Link fell to his back and laughed smacking his fists against the grass. His laughter echoed as Robon went on to fetch the commander then return him to the bug while the younger brother was crying-laughing still not quite over the reaction of the older brother. Craig let's it pass when realizing that his brother can walk and it makes him grin. The others are crying-laughing with the boy and Robon laughs, mechanically, as well.

Robon wasn't supposed to get a family, genuinely like the passengers that he were ensuring their travel to, or get lost.

All the same, Robon enjoyed the family that he were given by what the universe had given him. 

He was going to make sure they got home alive even if it took his untimely termination to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I take characters from a cartoon pilot and make them well rounded characters, yes, yes, yes I did.
> 
> web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. - All's Well That Ends Well (1600s), Act IV, scene 3, line 80.


End file.
